America's North Shore Journal

I thought they might be too optimistic. This guy is in serious doo doo. WNBC Diomande, 44, had been listed in stable condition at Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, Pa., just south of the New York border. But in a statement issued Friday, the hospital said the patient had “experienced increased difficulty breathing during the course of the day, resulting in a change in his condition to serious.” At City Hall, Bloomberg revealed that testing had indicated the presence of low levels of anthrax at the Brooklyn warehouse and at Diomande’s apartment in Greenwich Village. But the mayor insisted the finding “is not a surprise and should not cause alarm.” Both sites, he added, would undergo an extensive cleanup. City officials again emphasized that the treatment with antibiotics of the seven people who may have … Read entire article »

Final comment: Anthrax is not contagious. What if it had been Ebola? UPDATE FIVE: AP via Yahoo Authorities said Wednesday the infection appeared to be accidental — not terrorism — and did not pose a serious public health threat. Vado Diomande, 44, had traveled recently to the west coast of Africa and fell ill in Pennsylvania last week shortly after he returned to this country with some hides, authorities said. It was not exactly clear how Diomande came into contact with the deadly substance, or whether it happened in Africa or in this country. But aides to Mayor Michael Bloomberg said it was related to his job making drums from animal skins. At least four other people may have been exposed to anthrax spores, including a family member of the infected man who worked … Read entire article »