[katykelly]

I wonder when the last case of anthrax in the US was diagnosed?

[Tree of Liberty]

Sec. Thomspon (HHS) just said that there was a case last year in Texas.

[Jolly Rodgers]

Posted at 3:33 p.m. EDT Thursday, October 4, 2001

Palm Beach man hospitalized with anthrax

BY MANNY GARCIA And DAVID KIDWELL dkidwell@herald.com

A 63-year-old Palm Beach County man has been hospitalized in critical condition in Lantana with anthrax, state health officials confirmed today.

State of Florida and federal investigators from the Centers for Disease Control are at the Columbia JFK Medical Center are investigating, federal sources said.

The patient was identitified as Robert Stevens.

Investigators said he had recently returned from dropping his son off at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

At a hastily arranged news conference, Florida Lt. Gov Frank Brogan said the man was first diagnosed with meningitis, but the Centers for Disease Control confirmed that it was anthrax Wednesday afternoon.

Brogan said the man may have inhaled the deadly bacteria but added that the health officials believe it is an isolated case.

Anthrax is not contagious from one person to another, and in the rare occasions when it is spread to humans, it is usually done so by infected animals.

In the United States, about one case of anthrax has been confirmed each year over the last 10 years, according to a report by Dr. Arthur M. Friedlander, chief of the Bacteriology Division in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. The bacteria is most deadly when spread by air, making it one of the most feared methods of biological attack. But such cases are rare.

In 1979 in Sverdlovsk, Russia, anthrax spores accidentally released from a military research facility reportedly killed dozens of people.

Judy Orihuela, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Miami, said agents are assisting with the investigation.

"We're monitoring the case with the CDC and Florida Health officials," Orihuela said.

At Columbia JFK Medical Center in Lantana, hospital officials declined to comment. They said information would be released later today. A security guard was posted at the entrance to the critical care unit on the hospital's second floor. A media representative escorted a reporter off the property.

[Movemout]

Causes, incidence, and risk factors Anthrax is caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. It is a disease of sheep, cattle, horses, goats, and swine. Human infection, though rare, is an occupational disease of farm workers, veterinarians, and tannery and wool workers. The disease has a skin form (cutaneous anthrax) and a pulmonary form (inhalation anthrax). In the cutaneous form, the infection is transmitted through a break in the skin. After lesions form and the dead tissue and crusts fall off, infection may spread through the bloodstream and cause shock, cyanosis, sweating, and collapse. The incidence is 1 out of 100,000 people. In the pulmonary form, infection occurs by breathing in anthrax spores. The resultant pneumonia rapidly causes respiratory distress followed by death. Meningitis can also develop. The incidence of inhalation anthrax is very rare. Because anthrax spores remain infectious for many years, the disease can be picked up from old animal products such as sheep skins, wool blankets, and so on. Because the spores are long lasting and the incubation is short and disability is severe, experimentation with anthrax as a biological weapon has been common. Prevention Anthrax in the United States is extremely rare and special precautions are not advised. A vaccine is available for travelers at risk for exposure to animals or animal products in high-incidence countries. Symptoms a reddish brown sore that breaks open and forms a scab fever chills general discomfort, uneasiness, or ill feeling (malaise) headache nausea & vomiting shortness of breath cough congestion of the nose and throat pneumonia chest pain joint stiffness joint pain Signs and tests blood cultures positive for anthrax chest X-ray serologic test for anthrax spinal tap for CSF culture and analysis		ADVERTISEMENT
Overview | Treatment

[dandelion]

From the Emedicine Anthrax website:

Frequency:

• In the US: During the last 20 years, the indigenous US incidence has been less than 1 case per year. From 1955-1994, US cases totaled 235, with 224 cases of cutaneous anthrax, 11 cases of inhalational anthrax, and 20 fatalities.

• Internationally: In 1958, approximately 100,000 cases of anthrax occurred worldwide. Exact figures do not exist because of reporting difficulties in Africa. Anthrax is endemic in Africa and Asia despite vaccination programs. Sporadic outbreaks have occurred as a result of both agricultural and military disruptions. During the 1978 Rhodesian civil war, failure of veterinary vaccination programs led to a human epidemic, causing 6500 anthrax cases and 100 fatalities. A mishap at a military microbiology facility in the former Soviet Union in 1979 resulted in 66 deaths. Human anthrax often is associated with agricultural or industrial workers who come in contact with infected animal tissue.

Mortality/Morbidity: Anthrax is primarily zoonotic. Most anthrax disease is cutaneous (95%). The remaining cases of the disease are inhalational (5%) and GI (<1%).

[texgal]

I wonder when the last case of anthrax in the US was diagnosed?

Just heard on Channel 2 that the last case diagnosed in the US was 1976.

[TexanaRED]

If I remember correctly, here in Texas there was an outbreak in a cattle herd a few years ago. Can't remember exactly where, I want to say up around the Dallas area, but I am not at all sure. I also vaguely remember an outbreak in South Texas within the last 10 or so years. There were no humans infected in either case.