Anthrax has fallen out of the news during the past two weeks, but the United States still is on high alert and people still are handling mail cautiously.

Tonight, Dr. Philip Brachman, a former director of the Bureau of Epidemiology with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will analyze recent events and give his thoughts on prevention and contingency plans in “Bioterrorism in the 21st Century,” a lecture being given in Batavia, just 40 minutes from the NIU campus.

Brachman will describe why anthrax makes for an easy weapon for bioterrorists, discuss ongoing research on diseases and consider other potential agents that could replace anthrax.

Patricia Vary, a distinguished research professor of biological science at NIU, thinks the lecture will be a valuable and unique opportunity for NIU students and the public.

“I think it’s very important to dispel myths about anthrax,” she said.

Vary also thinks the behind-the-scenes look will provide important background information on how the United States fights diseases.

“It’s a good thing to know we have such a facility [as the CDC] and to understand what they do,” she said. Brachman worked at what Vary calls “the central nerve center of the fight against diseases in the United States.”

Brachman now works at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., where he serves as a professor of public health. His personal secretary, Jeanie Coffman, said Brachman has a great knowledge from which to draw on for his lecture.

“He’s a brilliant, detailed man,” she said. “He makes sure all the t’s are crossed and the i’s dotted.”

Brachman’s talk is part of Fermilab’s Arts & Lecture series and will be given in Fermilab’s Ramsey Auditorium at 7 p.m. Fermilab is in Batavia and accessible from the west by turning east on Pine Street from Kirk Road, just north of Interstate 88. For tickets ($5 a piece), call (630) 840-ARTS or visit the auditorium’s box office.