America's North Shore Journal

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 with the hides, and three were being treated with antibiotics, city Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said. “Every indication suggests that this is naturally occurring anthrax,” Frieden said.

Authorities were also screening for contaminants at the man’s rented work area in Brooklyn, in his vehicle and in his Manhattan apartment, Bloomberg said. [snip]

Frieden said Diomande was breathing on his own and appeared to be “doing better than people with respiratory anthrax usually do.”

Diomande has been a dancer and drummer since he was a child, according to a Web site for his dance troupe. When he was a teenager he danced with the National Ballet of the Ivory Coast and toured all over the world. He founded his own dance company in 1989, the Web site said.

Authorities said they were not concerned that the transport of the hides or the finished drums to the U.S. posed any health risk, because they believe Diomande was infected while treating and working with the materials.

At the Pennsylvania university where he collapsed, students were informed about the anthrax case but were assured they were not in danger. About 100 people attended the performance, according to Terri Day, a university spokesman.

UPDATE FOUR: NY Times

A drum-maker who imports raw animal hides from Africa has been infected with anthrax in what is believed to be an isolated accident that poses no public health threat, officials said Wednesday.

The man traveled in December to Ivory Coast in west Africa and became ill shortly after his return, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. There was no evidence of any criminal intent or terrorist connection, the mayor said.

The man collapsed after performing last week with a dance company, Kotchegna, at the Steadman Theatre in Mansfield, Pa., according to Pennsylvania Department of Health Secretary Dr. Calvin B. Johnson.

On Feb. 17, blood tests were taken and by Feb. 20, the tests began to indicate the possible presence of anthrax. He is in stable condition at the Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, Pa., just south of the New York border.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the 44-year-old man had worked with the animal hides at a work space in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn. At least four other people may have been exposed to anthrax spores and three are being treated with antibiotics, city Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said.

UPDATE THREE: If this story continues as it seems, I would suggest all the employees at that drum factory are in danger, and anyone in their household is also in danger. Why? Kathy T. Nguyen and Ottilie Lundgren.

My previous anthrax posts

In addition, the CDC and the FBI have failed to explain the isolated and unrelated anthrax deaths of Kathy T. Nguyen and Ottilie Lundgren. Both ladies had no direct exposure to any of the letters. The best notion that the experts can come up with is that they were exposed by mail that had been exposed to the original letters. Nonsense! The limited number of actual infections due to direct exposure to the letters suggests that the anthrax was not that infectious. To then suggest that two people, and only two people were fatally exposed to infectious levels of anthrax spores through second or third hand exposure is laughable. If there were enough anthrax spores in the general mail to kill these two women, how come no one else got infected? Surely there had to be dozens of immunocompromised individuals, easily infected, exposed to the same quantities of spores as these two ladies. No, there is far more to this story, and the FBI may have thoroughly mucked up the trail, and failed in its investigation.

UPDATE TWO: WCBS

The man traveled recently to the west coast of Africa and became ill after his return. He worked at a factory in the Dumbo section of Brooklyn nearby the Manhattan Bridge where drums are made from animal skins.

“This is an isolated case. There is no evidence at this time of any criminal intent associated with this. There is no reason to connect it to terrorism of any kind.” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg at a City Hall news conference.

The mayor said the one man was injured, and is recovering in a hospital in Sayre, Pennsylvania. He resides in the West Village section of Manhattan where the mayor said police and other investigators were inspectiing his residence.

Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden said it was a single case of inhalated anthrax. He said the patient is stable and doing well considering the serious bacteria in his body. He is in intensive care at the hospital in Pennsylvania but he is breathing on his own.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said there is no need at this time to evacuate people from the factory or the area around it. He said all appropriate city and federal authorities were notified and made the determination the case was unrelated to terrorism.

Bloomberg said the man, identified only at being 44 years old and a native of Africa, returned from a trip to the African nation of Ivory Coast and brought back with him some untreated animal skins, those of goats and other hides.

How’d he get them through Customs?

UPDATE ONE: OK, here’s one report of anthrax in west Africa.

ORIGINAL POST:
WNBC

A New York City man has been hospitalized after inhaling anthrax, but officials believe it was accidental and not related to terrorism, NewsChannel 4′s Jonathan Dienst reported Wednesday.

The man traveled recently to the west coast of Africa and became ill shortly after his return, said a federal law enforcement official, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The official said the anthrax may have been on animal skins.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly were expected to discuss the case at a City Hall news conference. Aides to the mayor said only the one man was injured, and was recovering in a hospital in Sayre, Pa.

It was not clear how the man came into contact with the deadly substance, but mayor’s aides said it was related to his job and that federal and city officials traced the exposure to New York City after the man became ill in Pennsylvania.

The victim lives in Manhattan and works in Brooklyn. NewsChannel 4 was told the victim is a musician who makes musical instruments out of animal pelts, which can be a natural source for anthrax. Investigators said they might search his business location later Wednesday to further determine the exact cause of the accidental inhalation.

I bet they “might” search his business!! You’d think that folks over there would be dropping like flies if it was in the hides. The hospital is Robert Packer, once a community hospital punching above its weight, but now a regional powerhouse in the NY Pennsylvania border region.