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NBC Employee Tests Positive For Anthrax

Case Apparently Unrelated To Florida Cases

WASHINGTON -- A fourth case of anthrax has been confirmed, reports MSNBC news, that's apparently unrelated to the Florida cases.

NBC News reports one of its New York employees has tested positive for anthrax.

The network says it's not the inhaled form, but instead a form that is contracted through contact with the skin -- called cutaneous anthrax.

It says the employee is "in no danger" -- and "should fully recover." The report also says suspicion is focusing on some mail that was received.

The three people in Florida who were found with the bacteria also worked for a media outlet --The Sun tabloid, based in Boca Raton.

Meanwhile, Stephanie Dailey, the third person exposed to anthrax, said she feels fine and even returned to work Thursday.

The Florida woman said, "You've got to go back and get going." Dailey, 35, said she's uplifted by her "faith in God."

Speaking to reporters outside her home, Dailey said she's taking medication and hasn't been admitted to a hospital.

Dailey is the third employee at American Media Inc. to be exposed to anthrax. Part of her duties there included receiving packages and delivering the mail.

She said she was tested on Monday and told Wednesday that she had been exposed.

Dailey is one of more than 1,000 people tested by health officials because they had recently been inside the office building where two infected men worked.

Photo editor Bob Stevens died of anthrax, and Ernesto Blanco, who works in the mail room, has tested positive for the presence of the potentially deadly spores.

Federal officials launched a criminal probe Thursday into the source of the contamination.

Attorney General John Ashcroft said authorities are trying to identify the type of anthrax and how it wound up at the office. He said that there's no evidence the bacterium may have been stolen from a lab, as recent reports have speculated.

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2001

Answers

http://www.boston.com/news/daily/12/anthrax.htm

New anthrax case reported in NBC employee in New York FBI sees 'no connection' to attacks

By Larry McShane, Associated Press, 10/12/01

NEW YORK -- An NBC News employee in New York has tested positive for anthrax in tests done after the company received suspicious mail, the network said Friday.

The anthrax was not the inhaled form of the disease, which killed a Florida man a week ago, NBC News said. The female employee instead has a cutaneous -- skin -- anthrax infection and is responding well to treatment, the network said.

Barry Mawn, head of the FBI office in New York, said authorities "see no connection whatsoever" to the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center. "It's a separate criminal matter," he said.

NBC President Andrew Lack said the woman works on "Nightly News." She was not identified.

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said tests would be done at NBC offices in Rockefeller Center. Some areas will be closed, he said.

"People should not overreact to this," Giuliani said. "Much of this is being done to allay people's fears."

The network said it had received some suspicious mail and immediately contacted the FBI, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the New York Department of Health.

"The mail was tested by these organizations, and the employee was treated by several physicians. All these tests came back negative," NBC said in Friday's statement. "However, this morning, a later test on the employee came back positive for traces of cutaneous anthrax."

The disclosure comes a week after a photo editor for The Sun supermarket tabloid in Boca Raton, Fla., died of the more serious inhaled form of anthrax. The American Media Inc. building where several supermarket tabloids are published was sealed off after anthrax was found on the keyboard of the editor, Bob Stevens, 63.

Traces of anthrax were later found in the mailroom where two other American Media workers, Ernesto Blanco and Stephanie Dailey, both worked, a law enforcement official said Thursday. Both tested positive for exposure to anthrax, but neither developed the disease. Both are taking antibiotics and Dailey has even returned to work.

Anthrax bacteria live in the blood of animals. When an animal dies, the bacteria form spores, which are released.

Skin anthrax and inhaled anthrax are caused by the same germ. The difference depends on how it gets into the body, whether through the lungs or through a break in the skin.

About 95 percent of all cases of anthrax worldwide result from skin contact with infected animals or tissue, and ranchers and animal handlers are sometimes at risk.

The infection can be cured with a variety of antibiotics, including penicillin and Cipro. But when left untreated, about 20 percent of patients die.

Cutaneous anthrax often begins with a bump on the hands, arms or head that eventually turns into a sore. More severe symptoms may follow, including fever, swelling and headache.

Inhalation anthrax is far more serious.

The only vaccine to prevent anthrax is in limited supply and is now only available to the military.

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2001

One thing that is important to note about the vaccine. It isn't just one shot, but a series of shots taken over 18 months.

Don't look for the shots for the general public anytime soon.

Also, do research on the vaccine itself. Most .mil types know that it doesn't do one bit of good for airborne anthrax, besides it tends to have nasty side effects.

If you are given the chance to take it, do your own research to determine if the comfort level to you is worth the risks associated with the drug.

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2001

apoc, I had wondered, given that it was a series of shots, how far do you need to get in the series for them to make a difference before you are exposed.

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2001

You must be completed with them.

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2001

I just had a big ????? come into my mind.

If they just tested the Florida people with nose swab tests, are they really sure that they aren't contaminated? If they didn't do the blood test, are they 100% sure?

apoc

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2001

apoc, nose swabs does sound like an inadequate way to check for contamination several weeks after the fact. Thought I had heard there were also blood tests.

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2001

"Skin anthrax and inhaled anthrax are caused by the same germ. The difference depends on how it gets into the body, whether through the lungs or through a break in the skin."

IOW, it could be EXACTLY the same strain and source of anthrax as the Florida outbreaks. Why are they insisting elsewhere in the articles that a distinction between skin anthrax and inhaled anthrax means there is no connection to Florida. Or am I missing something.

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2001

Just came in on this, will look for material explaining the difference.

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2001

Naples Daily News

Anthrax: Scare explanation angers Postal Service

Friday, October 12, 2001

By CATHY ZOLLO, crzollo@naplesnews.com

Explanations by emergency personnel that the source of the white powder on mail that sparked Tuesday's anthrax scare in Naples proved false and angered postal officials.

Several emergency management officials said Tuesday and Wednesday that they suspected that the powder, which proved to be harmless, was commonly used by the post office to keep mail items from sticking to each other during sorting.

That's not so.

"They need to come to the mail processing center," said Debra Mitchell, spokeswoman for the post office. "Maybe (that was done) years ago, but I've been with the Postal Service since 1979. I have never seen any powder anywhere."

FBI spokeswoman Pam Salerno would only say Thursday that the powder had tested harmless and wouldn't say whether the agency is trying to track its origin.

"We take all of these reports seriously," she said.

Ken Pineau, who was among several officials who gave the post office explanation for the powder, said he doesn't know where the theory originated.

"All I know is we had the critique, and it was either fire or law enforcement who said that, that the Postal Service uses this to smooth the mail along the belts, and I went with that," he said. "I should have checked it out."

The emergency responders held a critique Wednesday evaluating their actions during Tuesday's anthrax scare at Fifth Third Bank and Cummings & Lockwood law firm, both on U.S. 41 North.

Tom Guthrie, who owns the private courier service that delivers post office mail to the companies affected by Tuesday's scare, said his company wasn't the source of the powder.

"We do not use any form of powder in our operation at all," he said.

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2001

Fox is reporting that a New York Times reporter, who specializes in the Middle East, received a letter containing white powder today and has turned it over to the FBI.

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2001

Here is a good collection of links on a thread from Free Republic.

http://www.freerepublic.com/fourm/a3bb90a6b2f3d.htm

Sorry I can't hot link.

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2001

I don't believe there is a difference, in the way that they meant. Now, if they determine it is a different strain, that would tend to support their position.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAV2WXCQSC.html

Skin Form of Anthrax Is Easy to Treat and Rarely Kills By Daniel Q. Haney The Associated Press Published: Oct 12, 2001

Despite the germ's terrifying reputation, anthrax infections on the skin are rarely fatal, and most people get better even without treatment. The most feared use of anthrax as a bioterrorist's weapon is spraying it through the air so it is breathed into the lungs, causing a hard- to-diagnose infection that is almost impossible to cure once symptoms start.

The case confirmed at NBC News in New York City on Thursday was a much less aggressive form of anthrax, although both are caused by the same germ. That variety, called cutaneous anthrax, results when anthrax spores get through a scratch or other break in the skin and cause a sore.

"The main thing for people to remember is, if you get cutaneous anthrax, it doesn't mean you will die from it," said Dr. Philip Carter, an expert at North Carolina State University's veterinary school.

Most people get better even without treatment. And taking standard antibiotics cures virtually everyone.

Anthrax, whether the inhaled or skin variety, are caused by spores of Bacillus anthraces, the anthrax bacteria that are mainly a livestock disease.

On the skin, the ailment starts after three to five days with a nondescript, painless blister that is red around the edges. A day or two later, this becomes an open sore that is especially recognizable because it is black. Eventually, this dries up and leaves a black scab, which falls off after a week or two.

People typically seek treatment, and the usual approach is a common antibiotic, such as penicillin, doxycycline or Cipro. These medicines are extremely effective.

"Antibiotics and a clean gauze patch to cover it should take care of you," said Dr. Philip Hanna of the University of Michigan.

Left untreated, he said, perhaps 5 percent of cases progress to a dangerous bloodstream infection, which is almost always fatal.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson cautioned against hoarding antibiotics in case of anthrax exposure. "We have enough for everyone who needs it," he said.

The skin form of anthrax accounts for 95 percent of all anthrax cases in the United States. Nevertheless, it is very rare, usually causing only a case or two a year.

Anthrax is mainly a disease of grazing animals, and cutaneous anthrax is largely confined people whose skin is exposed to the bacteria, such as ranchers, hide workers and veterinarians.

One typical case, described in August by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, involved a rancher in North Dakota who developed a telltale black sore the size of a quarter on his cheek. It was diagnosed as anthrax and traced to an outbreak of the bacterial disease among cattle. Eventually 157 cows died on 31 farms. The rancher recovered.

Cutaneous anthrax was more common during the early 20th century, when the bacteria sometimes entered the United States on imported animal hides. One common source of the disease was shaving brushes made from infected horse hair.

Typically, people get the anthrax sores on the head, neck and arms. Usually, the sores do not spread beyond the initial site of the bacteria's entry into the body, and they are not contagious.

Experts estimate that it takes about 50,000 spores on broken skin to cause an anthrax infection. This is such a tiny amount that it cannot be seen with the naked eye. Inhaled anthrax can result from fewer spores, perhaps 10,000, but they must be very small and not clumped together to reach the deep recesses of the lungs, where they do damage.

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2001

CNN is reporting that the envelope opened by the women at NBC was addressed to Tom Brokaw.

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2001

Well, this sure won't cure him of being a male chauvinist pig!

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2001