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PHOENIX - At least 17 members of the Arizona
National Guard contracted a mysterious rash during and after training
at an Army chemical weapons installation in Utah, officials said
Friday.
Army technicians from the Dugway Proving Grounds near Salt Lake City
flew to Phoenix on Thursday to test the soldiers' clothing and
equipment for contamination, said Lt. Eileen Bienz, a spokeswoman for
the Arizona Guard.
About 600 members of the Arizona Guard attended maneuvers at Dugway
for two weeks in June, but Ms. Bienz said no chemicals or biological
agents were involved.
The 17 soldiers with rashes, on skin not covered by short-sleeve
shirts worn at Dugway, included two cases reported just last week, Ms.
Bienz said.
The 840,000-acre Dugway facility tests equipment to defend against
chemical and biological attacks.
Dan Richards, a spokesman for the Good Samaritan Poison Center in
Phoenix, where two rash patients were treated, said their skin
irritation appeared to be caused by a chemical, but toxicologists want
to checked results of Army tests. It was not immediately when the
results of those tests would be available, Ms. Bienz said.
None of the 17 was hospitalized.
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