For memory's sake
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol8no10/02-0354.htm
...The index patient’s infection most likely occurred from inhalation of B. anthracis spores following a primary aerosolization, i.e., spores released into the air after opening a spore-containing letter. This scenario is consistent with co-workers’ recollections that the index patient held a letter containing powder over his computer keyboard, as well as environmental samples showing contamination at his keyboard, an incoming-mail desk near his workspace, and his mailroom mailbox. The second case-patient did not recall opening or seeing a letter containing powder, and the mechanism of spore aerosolization resulting in his infection is unclear. He was likely exposed while delivering 10,000–15,000 mail pieces daily to the workplace mailroom; both the mailroom and mail van were contaminated with B. anthracis spores. He may have inhaled spores after mail was compressed or shaken during delivery or after he (unknowingly) or a co-worker opened a spore-containing envelope. A secondary aerosolization, i.e., spores resuspended in the air after settling to a surface following an initial release, may also have resulted in his infection.
| Anthrax toll may have been higher than reported:[1 Edition] |
| Aaron Hicklin. The Herald. Glasgow (UK): Oct 5, 2002. pg. 4 |
| Text Word Count | 371 |
| Abstract (Article Summary) |
|
Dr Meryl Nass, one of the world's leading experts on anthrax, claims at least two postal workers in New York died mysteriously during the outbreak, and scores of others displayed symptoms consistent with anthrax, but which went unreported. Dr Martin Hugh-Jones, an anthrax specialist at Louisiana State University, also thinks it likely that there were other cases. "At a low enough dose breathed in, most ... |
Also, could any institutional recipients have just thrown away mail that looked like it came from kooks without even bothering to open it?