Second D.C. Postal Worker Has Anthrax - follow-up article for 1:17 press conference

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http://news.excite.ca/news/ap/011022/13/news-attacks-anthrax

Second D.C. Postal Worker Has Anthrax Updated: Mon, Oct 22 1:27 PM EDT By LAURA MECKLER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Health officials said Monday a second Washington postal worker has contracted inhalation anthrax, and added they were investigating the deaths of two other employees at the same mail facility for any connection to the disease.

Dr. Ivan Walks, the city's chief health official, said the unidentified man with the disease was hospitalized in suburban Virginia, at the same facility where another postal worker was diagnosed over the weekend.

He said tests were being run on clinical samples from the two men who have died under conditions that aroused the suspicions of local officials.

He also said authorities are investigating as many as nine more cases that have aroused concern.

-- Anonymous, October 22, 2001

Answers

n-n-n-nine more?

-- Anonymous, October 22, 2001

Link to previous thread.

-- Anonymous, October 22, 2001

Link to article at top of thread.

Deaths of 2 D.C. postal workers 'suspicious;' 2nd worker has inhalation anthrax

Link to Sun-Sentinel

By LAURA MECKLER, Associated Press, Posted October 22 2001, 1:47 PM EDT

WASHINGTON -- Health officials said Monday a second Washington postal worker has contracted inhalation anthrax, and added they were investigating the deaths of two other employees at the same mail facility for any connection to the disease.

Dr. Ivan Walks, the city's chief health official, said the unidentified man with the disease was hospitalized in suburban Virginia, at the same facility where another postal worker was diagnosed over the weekend.

He said tests were being run on clinical samples from the two men who have died under conditions that aroused the suspicions of local officials. He also said authorities are investigating as many as nine more cases that have aroused concern.

Walks said he did not know how many of the nine were postal workers or how many were hospitalized.

Walks said authorities were conducting tests on clinical samples from the two postal workers who died.

In one case, he said, preliminary blood testing had further aroused suspicion that anthrax may have played a role.

In the case of the second person, he said, ``We do not have even the positive blood cultures ... but his clinical course is highly suspicious.''

City officials made their startling disclosures as the Capitol reopened but congressional offices remained shuttered for environmental testing.

And nearly three weeks since anthrax first surfaced in Florida, the government declared the headquarters of a Boca Raton-based tabloid company where one man died of the disease to be a Superfund site. The designation means federal funds can be used to pay for cleanup.

Willhite issued an unusual plea to reporters to extend prayers to the families of the dead postal workers who have died, rather than barrage them with questions.

``Give them time to grieve and to take care of their own business,'' she said.

She said the affected facility would remain closed as long as it takes to make sure it's safe again.

Officials over the weekend had said that a 57-year-old postal worker, Leroy Richmond, had been hospitalized with inhalation anthrax in serious and stable condition.

Officials did not provide the names of any of the other affected workers.

On Capitol Hill, congressional sources said it was unlikely that all the House and Senate office buildings would reopen on Tuesday, as officials had hoped. These sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said testing was continuing but it was not clear whether all the results would be in hand by the beginning of the work day on Tuesday.

Officials discovered anthrax over the weekend in a building where mail for House offices is processed.

These officials said there had been no test results yet indicating anthrax in any of the other House office buildings, leaving authorities to wonder whether an as-yet undiscovered piece of mail was the source of spores found on a mail room machine.

The anthrax outbreak first surfaced more than two weeks ago in Florida, when one employee of American Media Inc. died of the disease, and a second was hospitalized.

Fred Stroud, an EPA spokesman, announced the Superfund site designation, and said he had no estimate of the cost involved in decontaminating the building in Boca Raton, Fla.

``We need to know the status of the complete facility, not just the areas where the crime may or may not have occurred,'' he said.

Postmaster General John Potter said the U.S. Postal Service was increasing security at its facilities and beginning to introduce technology that can sanitize mail. But he said postal workers were not being ordered to wear gloves and face masks.

There was a brief scare at another government building in Washington when the Supreme Court building was closed after a powdery substance was found in the clerk's office Monday. Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said the material was tested and determined to be construction-related material.

Authorities were watching five other people in the Washington area who have flulike symptoms that can indicate inhalation anthrax, said Dr. Ivan C.A. Walks, the city's chief health officer. The five are hospitalized and receiving treatment _ four in Washington and one in suburban Virginia, he said.

Potter indicated that all five others were also postal employees. Initial tests were negative on the first of the five to be tested.

Walks said authorities might know as early as Monday if any of them are infected with the potentially deadly bacterium. But he added that anthrax cannot be ruled out for at least 72 hours after a blood culture is taken.

Over the last 2½ weeks three men, including one who died, have been diagnosed with inhalation anthrax, a disease not seen in this country since 1978. Six others, including two postal workers in New Jersey, have been infected with a highly treatable form of anthrax that is contracted through the skin.

Health and postal officials said they do not know how the Washington postal worker came into contact with enough anthrax to allow the bacteria to travel into his respiratory system and lodge deep in his lungs.

Surgeon General David Satcher said inhalation anthrax has been fatal about 80 percent of the time. ``But that's in the past. We have different technology today,'' he said on CNN's ``Late Edition'' Sunday.

``It is not yet hopeless.''

Health investigators moved quickly to determine whether anthrax was present in either of two postal facilities where Richmond worked and whether other employees might have been exposed.

More than 2,100 workers at Washington's main mail-processing center and 150 at an air mail-handling center near Baltimore-Washington International Airport were asked to report for nasal swab testing, which will help determine where in the buildings exposure may have occurred. Employees will each be given a 10-day supply of antibiotics to ward off infection in case they were exposed.

Some 1,000 workers were tested Sunday.

Officials also planned extensive environmental testing at both facilities. They will use the results, along with nasal swab testing, to determine which workers need a full course of preventive antibiotics.

Copyright © 2001, South Florida Sun-Sentinel



-- Anonymous, October 22, 2001


Ok, guys, remember when the first guy "may" have had inhalational anthrax? How we shouldn't worry about it unless there were two? Then there were two, now several, now maybe more than one dead.

If they say ONE word about smallpox, hole up.

-- Anonymous, October 22, 2001


Helen, I'm afraid "they" aren't going to tell us about small pox unless they're also ready to lock us down, which would be a huge task. It's easier for them to keep that hushed up until it can't be denied anymore.

-- Anonymous, October 22, 2001


That does it. I am going to order some supplies TONIGHT, after I have an hour or so on the forum. Additional masks, surgical gloves, fish antibiotics, etc. And I shall be checking my drop cloth supply too. I'm not panicking, just being prudent. These supplies won't cost that much but will be worth their weight in gold for the feeling of security they'll give me.

-- Anonymous, October 22, 2001

I bought my paint and varnish before the attack, back when I had a brighter future...I've used the cheapest department store brand semi-gloss paint on my walls for years because it can be cleaned with glass cleaner or bleach solutions. I didn't really need to repaint after six years, but I was changing colors. I'm also revarnishing woodwork for the first time since the house was built over 40 years ago. The varnish is glossy too.

In light of epidemics and all that, while I was painting I realized that this is a good idea if a room needed to be disinfected. It doesn't cost much, and it looks nice. And it'll last ... the rest of your life...

-- Anonymous, October 22, 2001


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