The Washington Post
A 63-year-old Florida man is critically ill with inhalation anthrax, a rare and deadly disease that has long been considered one of the more plausible agents of biological warfare. But federal officials said Thursday they believe the case arose from natural causes and is not the result of an act of terrorism.
Bob Stevens, photo editor of the supermarket tabloid The Sun, was hospitalized Tuesday with what was diagnosed as inhalation anthrax and was reported to be gravely ill. The Lantana, Fla., man’s identity was released by the tabloid’s publishing company.
He was hospitalized soon after returning from a trip to North Carolina, said Florida Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan at a news conference Thursday.
It’s not clear how he acquired the infection. The case is being investigated by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the FBI, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said in an unscheduled appearance at Thursday afternoon’s regular White House news briefing.
Anthrax is a bacterial disease. It can manifest itself in three forms, depending on whether the infection results from skin contact, ingestion or inhalation of the bacterial spores, which live in soil and can be found on cattle hides and wool. Inhaled anthrax is the most lethal, killing up to 80 percent of those infected.
Only 18 cases of inhaled anthrax have occurred in the United States in this century, and the last known case was in 1978, according to a 1999 summary of anthrax as a biological weapon that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. So rare is inhaled anthrax, that article concluded, “that even a single case (is) a cause for alarm today.”
Thompson encouraged just the opposite Thursday. He repeatedly characterized the case as “isolated” and emphasized that anthrax cannot be spread from person to person.
Thompson praised the public health system for working as it was supposed to: Florida doctors contacted the state health department, which confirmed the diagnosis, then contacted the CDC and the FBI.
Although it has been decades since the last case of inhaled anthrax was noted in this country, Thompson said, “it’s entirely possible” that others occurred and went unnoticed until health departments beefed up their vigilance in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The current case was initially listed as probable meningitis.
Thompson discouraged citizens from seeking prescriptions for ciprofloxacin or other antibiotics that can halt progression of the disease. He said the nation has an ample supply of the relevant drugs should emergency distribution be necessary.
“We have enough antibiotics to treat 2 million people for 60 days,” he said. “So people should not go out and do anything different than what they’re doing.”
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