Anthrax death a puzzler

Associated Press and The Hartford Courant

OXFORD, Conn. — Ottilie Lundgren loved nothing better than reading a good mystery, a pastime the 94-year-old enjoyed even more if she could unravel the puzzle before the end of the story.

The Oxford resident is herself the main character in a mystery, as baffled officials scramble to determine how she contracted the inhalation anthrax that killed her.

Lundgren died Wednesday morning at Griffin Hospital in Derby, five days after she was admitted. Final test results received by doctors just hours before she died confirmed that she had inhalation anthrax.

Her death and that of a New York City hospital worker are the only ones that have not been linked to tainted mail.

Authorities said there was no immediate evidence of a crime in Lundgren’s death, but the FBI and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began retracing her steps over the past month and are looking at the mail as a potential source.

"We’re not focused on any one thing, although the mail is certainly an obvious issue," FBI spokeswoman Lisa Bull said. "But we’re really trying to keep an open mind about any possibility."

The anthrax that killed Lundgren is indistinguishable from the strains investigated in the earlier cases, CDC spokeswoman Nicole Coffin said.

She said it was too early to speculate on what the conclusion might mean and whether it suggested a link to the mail. No anthrax-tainted letters have been reported in southwestern Connecticut, and tests at a regional mail-sorting center just last week came up clean.

The nation’s last anthrax death was Oct. 31, when the hospital worker died in New York, 70 miles away from Lundgren’s modest ranch home in rural Oxford. Lundgren had no known links to any of the previous victims.

With this second unexplained anthrax case, CDC Director Dr. Jeffrey Koplan acknowledged he could not discount the possibility that naturally occurring anthrax is more common than doctors thought and is only now being discovered.

But he called that unlikely, particularly in an Eastern state where animal anthrax has not been detected.

Evidence from Lundgren’s home, including mail, will be tested for anthrax. Results are not expected until later this week.

So far, investigators have found no clues to possible anthrax exposure — such as using imported wool — in Lundgren’s hobbies or daily routine.

Her niece, Shirley Davis, said the widowed retiree seldom left home except for church and a weekly visit to the beauty parlor.

Friends and family say Lundgren, known for her graciousness, style and sense of humor, would have enjoyed the real-life intrigue and drama that has consumed the state and her small, rural hometown.

"She sure would be getting a chuckle out of all this," said Bill Crowther, who, with his wife, Peg, was a longtime friend of Lundgren’s. "She was a lady that people were easily attracted to because she was so warm and appreciative for any help you gave her."