SAYRE, Pa. – A dancer and drum maker who became infected with anthrax danced for reporters Wednesday in a hospital auditorium, showing off his remarkable recovery from a rare and usually fatal form of the disease.
Vado Diomande, a 44-year-old New York City resident, collapsed more than a month ago during a dance performance in Pennsylvania. Health officials believe he may have inhaled anthrax spores from the African animal hides he uses to make drums.
“I just want to say thank you to my doctors; they do very good job,” Diomande, a native of the Ivory Coast, said at a news conference, choking back tears. “If not for them, maybe I’m not here today.”
Inhalation anthrax kills about 75 percent of its victims.
Diomande survived probably “because he was such a fit and strong person to begin with,” said Dr. James Walsh, chief lung doctor at Robert Packer Hospital. “Someone who had a chronic illness, who was a little weaker, might not have done as well.”
Diomande lost 45 to 50 pounds, was put on a ventilator and had operations to drain fluid around his lungs. He is expected to be released from the hospital soon, but still has abnormal lung function and must take antibiotics for several more weeks.
It will probably be several months before he can perform with his troupe, Walsh said.
The last naturally occurring case of inhalation anthrax in the United States was in 1976.
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