Anthrax crisis is waning, but officials still on guard

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Eight days after the last anthrax diagnosis, a top federal health official said Tuesday the worst may be over. "For this episode, we’re out of the woods," said Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health.

But another attack, perhaps by some means other than the mail, can’t be ruled out. And it’s possible, although unlikely, that next month when thousands of people end their preventive antibiotics, a case or two might still pop up.

Could lingering contamination from the anthrax-tainted letters mailed to New York, Florida and Washington, D.C., cause more infections? Fauci told The Associated Press that’s unlikely. "However, another letter could come in addressed to whomever, you or me, who knows?" he added, saying doctors’ vigilance cannot wane.

Four people have died of inhaled anthrax since tainted letters were mailed in mid-September, and 13 others are fighting either the inhaled or milder skin form of the disease.

But the most troublesome anthrax victim is Kathy Nguyen, the Manhattan hospital worker whose Oct. 31 death still has federal investigators baffled. No one knows how Nguyen could have been infected — there’s no sign she came in contact with anthrax-tainted mail nor has any bacteria been found at her home or workplace.

Police began using Nguyen’s subway card to trace her steps around New York City for the two weeks prior to her death. "She somewhere, somehow had an inhalation exposure," said Dr. James Hughes of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and until that mystery is solved, "vigilance is heightened around the country."

The big fear is that she was the first victim of a new anthrax attack by some means other than mail.

But "every day that goes by without seeing another unexplained inhalational case makes it less and less likely" that happened, Fauci said.

Tens of thousands of Americans are taking antibiotics for 60 days to prevent anthrax infection because they may have been exposed to the bacteria, but there’s no guarantee that when all those people finish their drugs, a case or two of anthrax that the antibiotics didn’t cure won’t appear, Fauci said.

In Washington, thousands of pounds of mail addressed to government agencies have been piling up since an anthrax-tainted letter arrived at Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle’s office Oct. 15. The Postal Service said Tuesday it had begun sanitizing this mail and would start delivering it within 24 to 48 hours.

More post offices around the country were being tested for possible contamination. Closed post offices in New Jersey reopened Tuesday, as did the Manhattan hospital that was closed when a worker died of inhaled anthrax.

Still facing cleanup is the Hart Senate Office Building where Daschle’s office is located. Officials on Tuesday abandoned plans to pump chlorine dioxide gas into the building amid fears it may not work, and now say the building will not reopen before Nov. 21.

Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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