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To: NautiNurse
Fox news says last diagnosed case of human anthrax in the US was 25 years ago--only 18 cases in the entire 20th century.

Uhm... I found this HUMAN case the other day when looking up cutaneous anthrax's symptoms.

Human Ingestion of Bacillus Anthracis-Contaminated Meat --- Minnesota, August 2000

On August 25, 2000, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) was notified by the Minnesota Board of Animal Health (MBAH) of Bacillus anthracis isolated from a steer on a farm in Roseau County, Minnesota. The infected steer was one of five dead cattle found in a pasture on August 20. On the basis of phage typing of isolates cultured from tissues and blood samples by the North Dakota State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, B. anthracis was confirmed. This report describes the management of and public health response to human exposure to meat contaminated with anthrax.

On July 24, the farmer who owned the infected steer also had killed, gutted, and skinned a cow that was unable to rise. A local veterinarian approved the slaughter of the cow for consumption by the farmer's family. Immediately after slaughter, the farmer took the carcass (carcass X) to a custom meat-processing plant; on July 31 and August 1, carcass X was processed. Two family members ate hamburgers made from carcass X on August 15 and steaks on August 19; three other family members ate hamburgers on August 20. A sixth member prepared the meals and also may have eaten contaminated meat. All meat was reported to have been well cooked. To investigate the possibility that they had eaten contaminated meat, the family members were interviewed by MDH on August 25. Two reported gastrointestinal illness; one reported 1 day of diarrhea approximately 48 hours after eating meat from carcass X, and the second reported 3 days of abdominal pain, diarrhea, and a temperature of 102.3 F (39.1 C) beginning 24--36 hours after consumption. Both recovered without treatment. The family was advised by MDH not to eat any more of the meat, to contact a physician, and to begin antibiotic prophylaxis with ciprofloxacin (500 mg, orally, twice daily).

Full Details here:

CDC: Minnesota Anthrax 2000

Stay safe - Mrs Kus

102 posted on 10/04/2001 1:35:17 PM PDT by cgk
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To: cgk
I believe they were referring the the deadliest of anthrax infections--inhalation. While Fox News didn't state it, I am pretty certain they were referring to inhalation. As I mentioned before, cutaneous anthrax infection is quite benign. Intestinal anthrax is treatable too.
110 posted on 10/04/2001 1:40:21 PM PDT by NautiNurse
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To: cgk
I think they meant to say the last human inhalation anthrax in the last 25 years.
140 posted on 10/04/2001 2:16:00 PM PDT by PeterBarringer
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