Anthrax diagnosis reported in Florida

The Miami Herald has an article on this case. According to the article, there has been approximately one case per year in the US for the last ten years.

21 posted on 10/04/2001 12:52:10 PM PDT by Jolly Rodgers

No, I know its not contagious. I also know its rare. There doesn't seem to be a logical reason for someone to come down with it in Palm Beach (no cattle or sheep). I'm not so worried about coming down with is as in determining how htis guy came down with it.

24 posted on 10/04/2001 12:53:13 PM PDT by Loopy

To: Tree of Liberty

25 posted on 10/04/2001 12:53:23 PM PDT by RedhairRedhair

To: Jolly Rodgers

Posted at 3:33 p.m. EDT Thursday, October 4, 2001

Palm Beach man hospitalized with anthrax

BY MANNY GARCIA And DAVID KIDWELL dkidwell@herald.com

A 63-year-old Palm Beach County man has been hospitalized in critical condition in Lantana with anthrax, state health officials confirmed today.

State of Florida and federal investigators from the Centers for Disease Control are at the Columbia JFK Medical Center are investigating, federal sources said.

The patient was identitified as Robert Stevens.

Investigators said he had recently returned from dropping his son off at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

At a hastily arranged news conference, Florida Lt. Gov Frank Brogan said the man was first diagnosed with meningitis, but the Centers for Disease Control confirmed that it was anthrax Wednesday afternoon.

Brogan said the man may have inhaled the deadly bacteria but added that the health officials believe it is an isolated case.

Anthrax is not contagious from one person to another, and in the rare occasions when it is spread to humans, it is usually done so by infected animals.

In the United States, about one case of anthrax has been confirmed each year over the last 10 years, according to a report by Dr. Arthur M. Friedlander, chief of the Bacteriology Division in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. The bacteria is most deadly when spread by air, making it one of the most feared methods of biological attack. But such cases are rare.

In 1979 in Sverdlovsk, Russia, anthrax spores accidentally released from a military research facility reportedly killed dozens of people.

Judy Orihuela, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Miami, said agents are assisting with the investigation.

"We're monitoring the case with the CDC and Florida Health officials," Orihuela said.

At Columbia JFK Medical Center in Lantana, hospital officials declined to comment. They said information would be released later today. A security guard was posted at the entrance to the critical care unit on the hospital's second floor. A media representative escorted a reporter off the property.

26 posted on 10/04/2001 12:53:58 PM PDT by Jolly Rodgers

I think you should perhaps look at the post to which I was responding.

27 posted on 10/04/2001 12:54:00 PM PDT by BurkeanCyclist

To: BurkeanCyclist

I don't know what you mean by "some frequency"--I assume from the uneducated post you answered and the rest of your answer that you meant "not uncommon". However, Tierney, et. al. in "Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment" (the only up to date medical text I have here at home) describe even occupational infections as "rare". I do have a Harrison's and they do not use the term "rare". But I don't know if I would use the phrase "with some frequency."

28 posted on 10/04/2001 12:54:45 PM PDT by jammer

Why? freedomnews either (a) decided to speak from ignorance and irresponsibly supply the most panic-provoking answer he could think of (namely, that this HAD to be a biowar incident) or (b) he KNEW better and LIED deliberately in order to induce panic. Either one indicates that freedomnews should not be allowed to post for a while.

29 posted on 10/04/2001 12:55:01 PM PDT by Poohbah

To: Jolly Rodgers

Well, he picked a hell of a time to have our yearly case!!!!

Bus terror in Tennessee, plane goes down in Russia, Chemical Plant in France, now Anthrax in Florida, but its all a coincidence. Believe me, I WANT to believe that this anthrax case is a coincidence.

30 posted on 10/04/2001 12:55:36 PM PDT by Loopy

Sorry, PBC is two different worlds - and it far from devoid of cattle.

The east side is full of folks that cant figure out a butterfly ballot - the west is filled with farmland, cattle ranches, dairy farms, migrants, and crackers (Florida Natives).

Our liberal icon - Senator Graham and his family own a huge dairy farm - and at least part if not most of it are in PBC. Lot of cows down here in the Sunshine State.

31 posted on 10/04/2001 12:56:29 PM PDT by DSHambone

Florida has tons of cattle. I read somewhere that it is the 3rd leading cattle raising state after Texas and Colorado. But that was years ago, don't know about now.

32 posted on 10/04/2001 12:57:01 PM PDT by Zorobabel

Doesn't anthrax take a few days to appear --- we could have 1000's of people that were exposed at around the same time and not know why they're getting sick.

33 posted on 10/04/2001 12:59:20 PM PDT by Naspino

It does seem a little odd, but maybe we're just more sensitive to this kind of news than we otherwise would be. It's rare to be sure, but I'll bet there are a handful of cases every year in this country. I know the CDC makes vaccine available to vets that work with sheep and cattle - so there must be some risk.

-bc

34 posted on 10/04/2001 12:59:43 PM PDT by BearCub

I don't want to argue over semantics, beyond saying that I wasn't talking about this country specifically, and my real point was that people do get anthrax without being the target of biological warfare or terrorism.

I might have phrased it better except that I was concerned mainly to counter the suggestion that this must be the result of an intentional act.

35 posted on 10/04/2001 1:00:14 PM PDT by BurkeanCyclist

I got to tell you, my hand is a little shaky on the mouse when I sit back and think about the possibilites out there. I sincerely hope this is a random case.

The Taliban better be on their knees in fervent prayer to Allah that this is random outbreak.

36 posted on 10/04/2001 1:00:15 PM PDT by Bryan24

To: BurkeanCyclist

>I'm going to try very hard to get your posting account suspended for your attempt to sow panic.<

Oh, is that right, NEWBIE? You sure have a lot of nerve!

This thread and the OTHER TWO threads about this topic are legitimate news articles and are meant to keep FReepers informed. If you don't like it, don't click on them!

37 posted on 10/04/2001 1:01:16 PM PDT by JudyB1938

To: BurkeanCyclist, freedomnews; Jim Robinson

BurkeanCyclist owes freedomnews an apology.

Palm Beach man hospitalized with anthrax

38 posted on 10/04/2001 1:01:22 PM PDT by Pericles

To: Tree of Liberty

Someone else posted this breaking story to the breaking news sidebar before you did. To keep the sidebar from having the same story 5 times, I am moving this one off.

Sorry.

39 posted on 10/04/2001 1:02:17 PM PDT by Sidebar Moderator

To: Jolly Rodgers

"In the United States, about one case of anthrax has been confirmed each year over the last 10 years, according to a report by Dr. Arthur M. Friedlander, chief of the Bacteriology Division in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. "

So if we see a cluster of cases then we know it wasn't accidental. I hope our civil servants start telling the truth. I have some serious problems with some of the explanations we have been getting the last few days.

40 posted on 10/04/2001 1:02:32 PM PDT by Movemout

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