Anthrax death first in 25 years

Associated Press

LANTANA, Fla. — A 63-year-old Florida man died of the inhaled form of anthrax Friday in the first such death in the United States in 25 years. The case raised fears of a biological attack, but health officials said there is no evidence he was the victim of terrorism.

Bob Stevens, a photo editor at the supermarket tabloid The Sun, died at JFK Medical Center in Atlantis after antibiotics failed to help. He suffered kidney failure and cardiac arrest.

"It was not unexpected," said Dr. Larry Bush, an infectious disease specialist.

Federal and state health investigators emphasized that the disease is not contagious and no other cases have been reported. But they are trying to reconstruct Stevens’ movements and track down the source of the disease. The FBI is involved, as is the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Anthrax has been developed by some countries as a possible biological weapon, and the terrorist attacks Sept. 11 have put many people on edge about the threat. Anthrax can also be contracted naturally, often from farm animals or soil.

Stevens was described as an avid outdoorsman. Dr. Steven Wiersma, a state epidemiologist, said officials believe he contracted anthrax naturally.

FBI, CDC and state investigators searched Stevens’ workplace and sealed off his house in Lantana for a two-hour search. When they left, they removed the yellow crime-scene tape.

Some in Lantana have been concerned because Mohamed Atta, believed to be one of the hijackers who destroyed the World Trade Center, had rented planes at a flight school at Palm Beach County Park Airport, according to the school’s owner. Stevens’ home is within a mile of the airport.

The most recent previous U.S. case of anthrax was earlier this year in Texas. But that was the more common skin form, not the inhaled type of anthrax, an especially lethal and rare form in which the disease settles in the lungs.

Only 18 inhalation cases in the United States were documented in the 20th century, the most recent in 1976 in California. That case, too, was deadly, and a state health spokeswoman said the victim worked as a professional weaver using imported woolen yarns. The last anthrax death in Florida occurred in 1974.