- An elderly Oxford woman has "a probable case of
inhalation anthrax," Gov. John G. Rowland announced this afternoon.
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- Authorities said five separate tests indicate the woman
has the inhalation form of the disease -- the most serious form. She would
be the only Connecticut resident diagnosed with anthrax since the first
anthrax attack in Florida last month. The unidentified woman, who is in
her 90s, is being treated with antibiotics at Griffin Hospital in Derby.
She is listed in serious condition. She was admitted last Wednesday and
was being treated for pneumonia until tests indicated anthrax.
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- Joxel Garcia, the state's health commissioner, said the
state received positive test results from the hospital Monday and immediately
began conducting its own investigation.
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- Rowland, speaking at a press conference at his office,
said officials have no idea how the woman might have contracted anthrax.
There was no indication she is related to any government official or had
any public activity that would cause her to be a target of terrorism, he
said.
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- The FBI and state police are investigating how she might
have come into contact with anthrax spores, he said, and the Centers for
Disease Control is sending a team to Connecticut.
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- Two tests at the hospital and three conducted by the
state Department of Health were all positive for anthrax, Rowland said.
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- The tests conducted by the health department are more
sophisticated than those conducted by the hospital, but not as accurate
as CDC testing, Garcia said.
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- The CDC hopes to have initial testing on specimens from
the patient completed Wednesday, spokesman Tom Skinner said.
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- "It's still posible that testing by the CDC could
prove negative for anthrax. I'm still hopeful for that," Rowland said.
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- He emphasized that inhalation anthrax is not contagious
from person to person, and said that other patients at Griffin Hospital
are not at risk.
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- Anthrax is a potentially fatal hemorrhagic disease, which
means it can result in internal bleeding. It is caused by Bacillus anthracis,
a hardy rod-shaped bacterium.
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- They symptoms of inhalation anthrax are gradual and nonspecific.
The person may have a fever, feel tired and may have a dry cough. That
is usually followed by a period -- which can last hours or up to two to
three days -- in which the person feels better.
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- That abruptly changes and the person develops severe
trouble breathing as the lungs begin bleeding. Death can follow 24 to 36
hours later.
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- "There is no evidence that anyone else has been
exposed," Rowland said. Officials thought the bacteria might have
been contracted in its natural form, but Rowland said considering this
is the inhalation form, makes that scenario unlikely.
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- The patient lives alone in Oxford, and her home has been
sealed off by state officials, Rowland said.
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- "I'm not only shocked by very concerned," he
said, adding that leads will be followed up to make sure Connecticut residents
are safe. "No one should be overly alarmed, but we are taking this
very seriously.
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- Today it was also revealed that traces of the anthrax
bacteria have been found in the office mailrooms of Sens. Edward Kennedy,
D-Mass., and Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said one congressional official
speaking on condition of anonymity.
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- Officials suspect the anthrax got there through contact
with anthrax-bearing letters mailed to Sen. Patrick Leahy or Senate
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- Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D. So far, anthrax traces
have been found in 13 senators' offices besides Daschle's, whose office
is the only one known to have actually opened an anthrax letter.
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- A sample taken from a plastic evidence bag containing
a still-unopened letter to Sen. Leahy contained at least 23,000 anthrax
spores, enough for more than two lethal doses, authorities said today.
Word of the anthrax spores in the Leahy letter, first reported by The New
York Times, followed the FBI's announcement that it is convinced the Leahy
letter was sent by the same person who mailed an anthrax-tainted letter
to Daschle. Both were postmarked Oct. 9 in Trenton, N.J.
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- The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said
there were three times more anthrax spores in the single sample taken from
the plastic bag than in any of the other 600 bags of mail examined by the
FBI before it found the Leahy letter.
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- Investigators are looking into the possibility the Leahy
letter was misrouted initially, resulting in anthrax contamination at a
State Department mail facility that sickened one worker.
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- http://www.ctnow.com/news/health/hc
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