Posted on 11/02/2001 12:40:31 PM PST by DanDDynamo
MUSKOGEE - An unidentified man was being treated in a Muskogee Hospital Thurday for an illness he developed after he opened a letter that is now being tested for anthrax contamination.
The incident, which happened the same day that anthrax spores were found at a postal center in Kansas City, Mo., raised fears that the deadly germs might somehow reach Oklahoma.
And although hoaxes have been abudnant throughout the state - including a scare Tuesday in the office of Muskogee Special District Judge Robin Adair - authorities believe they had reason to treat Thursday's incident seriously.
"What concerns us is the (man's) doctor was pretty concerned about it," Assistant Fire Chief Danny Tracy said. "We've got to treat it like it's the real thing."
A Muskogee police statement said the man apparently opened the "suspicious" letter Wednesday.
He began feeling sick and arrived at the Maternal and Family Practice office Thursday afternoon.
The man's physician, Dr. Mike Butner, called the ambulance service and police about the man's condition, Tracy said.
Butner was not available for comment Thursday evening.
"We don't know very much other than it was flu-like symptoms," Tracy said.
The man was taken to Muskogee Regional Medical Center, where his condition was not released. He remained at the hospital Thursday evening.
His car was examined briefly in the hospital's parking lot and then towed to the Davis Field airport for a closer inspection.
Motorists on Okmulgee Avenue saw firefighters, who were specially suited to handle hazardous materials, enter then '90s-model Chevrolet, the police statement said.
FBI agents and Muskogee Counter Emergency Management Director Mike Borum also were on the scene.
The first 18 years of my life were spent in Muskogee, and I remember well the day that the Muskogee General Hospital, as it was then called, opened for business. It was in 1962, and my mom and I took one of the open-house tours. A PRIVATE room at the time cost the princely sum of $12.50 per day.
After the tour, we went directly across W. Okmulgee to Chet's Hot Dogs for some loaded chili-cheese pups, Fritos, and a great-huge Dr. Pepper. Manna.
As for this guy - it'll probably be just the latest in a string of either hoaxes of mis-diagnoses.
Michael
Oklahoma News
3:15 p.m. November 2, 2001
(Muskogee-AP) -- A letter sent to a man who later became sick with flu-like symptoms has tested negative for anthrax. The man went to a Muskogee doctor's office Wednesday and said he received a letter with a white powdery substance last week from a New York charity. F-B-I spokesman Gary Johnson says the man remains very ill with an undisclosed disease.
We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee;
We don't take our trips on LSD;
We don't burn our draft cards down on Main Street;
We like livin' right, and bein' free.
We don't make a party out of lovin';
We like holdin' hands and pitchin' woo;
We don't let our hair grow long and shaggy,
Like the hippies out in San Francisco do.
I'm proud to be an Okie from Muskogee,
A place where even squares can have a ball.
We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
And white lightin's still the biggest thrill of all.
Leather boots are still in style for mainly footwear;
Beads and roman sandals won't be seen.
Football's still the roughest thing on campus,
And the kids here still respect the college dean.
And I'm proud to be an Okie from Muskogee,
A place where even squares can have a ball.
We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
And white lightin's still the biggest thrill of all.
We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
In Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA.
Muskogee - A letter sent to a man who later became sick with flu-like symptons has tested negative for anthrax. F-B-I spokesman Gary Johnson says the man went to a Muskogee doctor's office Wednesday. The man said he had received a letter with a white powdery substance last week from a New York charity.
Johnson says the state Health Department is certain the letter did not contain anthrax.
State health officials say the letter is a solicitation from the American Cancer Society and had no visible powder at the time it was tested.
Johnson says the man is very ill and has been diagnosed with a disease that Johnson declined to reveal.
One suspects that, if the memory is this vivid after almost forty years, Chet's made a world-class chili dog!
That good, huh?
I hate when they say that. Why not just say the guy has the flu. Now I am going to have to go into paranoid mode again!!!!
Muskogee man's letter tests negative for anthrax
MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP)
A letter sent to a man who turned up ill at a Muskogee doctor's office tested negative for anthrax, and doctors diagnosed him with another illness, an FBI official said Friday.
The case is the latest in a string of anthrax scares in the state.
The 48-year-old man arrived at a Muskogee doctor's office with flu-like symptoms Wednesday
He said he had received a letter containing a powdery substance seven days ago from a New York charity, said FBI spokesman Gary Johnson.
But testing by the state Health Department lab found the letter negative for anthrax.
``They're certain it's not anthrax,'' Johnson said.
State health officials who performed the testing said the letter was a solicitation from the American Cancer Society and showed no visible powder at the time of testing.
Johnson said the man was not tested for anthrax. He remained very ill, and doctors had diagnosed him with a disease that Johnson declined to disclose.
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