Workers wearing protective gear arrive at at the Manhattan apartment of the anthrax victim.
Posted on 02/23/2006 8:12:20 AM PST by freepatriot32
NEW YORK (Feb. 23) - A dance troupe leader who makes drums with animal hides was in a Pennsylvania hospital after apparently being exposed to anthrax spores, prompting officials in both states to reassure residents that it was a rare accident unrelated to terrorism.
"We have every reason to believe that this infection is an isolated, accidentally and naturally transmitted case," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Wednesday during a news conference from City Hall.
The drum maker, Vado Diomande, traveled in December to Ivory Coast in West Africa and became ill shortly after he returned, officials said.
Teams of federal and city officials searched the man's workspace in Brooklyn and his Manhattan apartment and said there was no evidence that anthrax was produced in either location. There also was no evidence of any criminal intent or terrorist connection, the mayor said.
Several other people, including a family member of the infected man, also may have been exposed and are being treated with antibiotics, city Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said.
Diomande, 44, was diagnosed with respiratory anthrax, which can be fatal, but Frieden said he was breathing on his own and appeared to be "doing better than people with respiratory anthrax usually do."
Diomande was in stable condition early Thursday at a Pennsylvania hospital. He had collapsed after performing last week with his dance company, Kotchegna, at the Steadman Theatre in Mansfield, Pa., according to Pennsylvania Department of Health Secretary Dr. Calvin B. Johnson.
Anthrax spores are found in soil in many parts of the world, and livestock become infected from consuming contaminated soil or feed. People then can become infected if they come into contact with the contaminated hides or other parts.
Dr. Lisa Rotz, a medical epidemiologist with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said health officials believe Diomande may have inhaled the spores in a process that includes soaking the hides, stretching them and scraping them to remove hair. She said investigators are seeking samples of the hides to test them for spores.
The nation was on high alert weeks after the 2001 terrorist attacks when anthrax-laced letters popped up in several places, including New York City. Five people died across the country and 17 were sickened. Investigators never determined who was responsible.
Contracting inhalation anthrax from natural sources is rare. The last U.S. case not linked to terrorism occurred in 1976. The victim made wool rugs as a hobby, Rotz said.
At the Pennsylvania university where Diomande performed last Thursday with a dance troupe, 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.
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.
Student Josh Wolf, who helped Diomande's troupe unload equipment into the theater before last week's show, said he didn't notice any fatigue or any other unusual physical signs with the dancers.
Authorities spent Wednesday afternoon inside the Brooklyn warehouse where Diomande worked, an eight-floor building that houses several small businesses and artists' studios.
The episode caused some apprehension among people who worked there. Lincoln Mayne, 34, a fashion and art designer, said the discovery of anthrax in the warehouse was "surreal."
"People are apprehensive. Nobody is telling us anything," he said.
Associated Press writers Sara Kugler in New York; Mike Stobbe in Atlanta; and Genaro C. Armas in Mansfield, Pa., contributed to this report.
2/23/2006 04:36:40
Workers wearing protective gear arrive at at the Manhattan apartment of the anthrax victim.
I though it was hard to make anthrax inhalable - this article suggests it could naturally inhalable.
I read about this in my daily paper. Seems this guy did a drum performance at Mansfield State U. here in PA. when he was taken ill. Univ. authorities are saying no one has to worry. I think they should give out Cipro to anyone who got near this guy or his drums that day.
I'm so happy to know that people can get anthrax-laced goat skins through customs from Africa. For a minute there, I thought the creation of a huge bureaucratic behemoth over U.S. Customs, together with billions of additional dollars in taxes was all for nothing. Whew! what a relief. /sarcasm off.
Maybe some overly ripe carcasses of cattle might naturally produce anthrax.
But it was a movie that I get this idea from... Not the best of sources these days...
I'm not buying this for a second rember the very first person to get anthrax during the last wave of attacks for 4 or 5 days they pointed out how he drank from a stream and thats probably how he contracted it until all the others started getting sick then they admitted it was man made anthrax that they all got exposed too
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IIRC, Anthrax can be inhaled. But the spores tend to clump together, and are less likely to go deep into the lungs. Weaponized anthrax includes a dispersal agent to keep the spores from clumping together.
Since it's so simple, go take care of the problem for us. Thanks.
Travel to Africa at your own risk.
Aha... thanks for the explanation. I think I'll just stay away from freshly harvested cow carcasses and not worry then...
Anthrax is naturally inhalable, just very rare. What is hard is making it reliably (for lack of a better word) inhalable so that it can be used as a weapon.
Back in 2001, one of the things I found out while learning about anthrax is that it is a hazard (not common, but ignorable either) to leatherworkers, particularly those working with imported animal skins (*). In the vast majority of cases, the infection is on the skin, but very rarely someone gets unlucky and inhales the spores.
(*) Controlling anthrax in animal herds is a full-time job. The United States does a very good job, but some imported skins come from places that either do or cannot do as thorough a job.
It is rare, but not impossible. This man was in very close contact with the hides of animals from Africa--he was there handling them. If there is any scenario where someone could get anthrax naturally, this would be it.
So I guess we can run, but we can't "hide"?
parsy, who is sick.
So I guess we can run, but we can't "hide"?
parsy, who is sick.
Clever. So you think its OK, after 9/11 and after the anthrax s in late 2001 and after all the money and new legislation and new bureaucrats that anthrax laced goat skins are passing through customs? Its just OK because its difficult? What the heck are you saying?
BTTT
I'm saying I'm a mere mortal and do not expect all others to be perfect.
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