Posted on 10/06/2001 11:52:59 AM PDT by TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!
LANTANA, Fla. (AP) - Relatives of a Florida man who contracted a fatal case of anthrax are being given antibiotics as a precaution and the man's co-workers have been tested and cleared, health authorities said Saturday.
Investigators are awaiting test results from soil and other specimens as they try to learn how 63-year-old Bob Stevens contracted the rare and extremely lethal inhaled form of the disease. He died Friday.
More than 50 health and law enforcement officials have fanned out across Palm Beach County to track his movements over the past two months and look for other possible cases.
"We have a long chronology of common activities we need to pursue," state epidemiologist Dr. Steven Wiersma said Saturday. "We don't have any really hot leads at this time."
No other cases of anthrax have been reported in the area. Wiersma said several of Stevens' co-workers at the supermarket tabloid The Sun have been tested, but results were negative. Also, as a precaution, close family members are being treated with antibiotics.
Officials have said there is no evidence that Stevens was the victim of terrorism. Wiersma said tests of Stevens' blood further confirmed that belief because the anthrax in the sample responded to penicillin. Anthrax developed by some countries as a biological weapon could be resistant to the antibiotic, he said.
The Sept. 11 hijackings have put many people on edge about a bioterrorism threat.
Officials believe Stevens contracted anthrax naturally in Florida. The disease can be contracted from farm animals or soil, though the bacterium is not normally found among wildlife or livestock in the state. Stevens was described as an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed fishing and gardening.
Officials are also investigating in North Carolina, where Stevens visited last month, but said the disease also is rare among animals in that state.
Investigators have cast a wide net in their search in Florida.
County medical examiners are looking over any unexplained deaths, but have not found any cases connected to anthrax. Veterinarians have been told to be on alert for animals who might have the disease, but none have turned up.
Investigators also are visiting restaurants, parks and other locations he frequented or even visited casually, Wiersma said.
Samples have been sent to labs in Miami or Jacksonville or to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. Results could take days.
Only 18 inhalation cases in the United States were documented in the 20th century, the most recent in 1976 in California. The last anthrax case in Florida was in 1974, according to the state health department.
Stevens lived on the same street in this quiet West Palm Beach suburb for 23 years. He and his wife raised their four children, now adults, and British-born Stevens - who became a U.S. citizen - raised his American flag on holidays.
As word of his death spread through the community Friday evening, a worker at a nearly nursery school stopped by his home to drop off cards made by preschool children.
Stevens loved fishing, neighbors said, and would take his next-door-neighbor's 10-year-old boy fishing twice a month.
"It just seems like a horrible dream that you can't wake up from," said neighbor Mary Crandell, whose granddaughter had taken drawing lessons from Stevens for years.
"She's really outgoing and I contribute that to him," Crandell said. "He always had time for her."
AP-ES-10-06-01 1429EDT
Newscasters, reporters, the average citizen.
Saying the Pledge of Allegence with Pride, waving Flags, singing Patriotic hymns.
Out of this ATTACK, a beautiful thing has happened.
Yet, I'll admit that part of me is concerned, especially with the onslaught of Anthrax scares. I turned down a day in the Big City today, because I didn't want to be anywhere near Downtown...and I missed a great day of fun!
I think the advice we need to heed, is to keep on living. Have Fun, be with family and friends. Don't let this event or events stop us.
I'm going to try! America is going through a lot right now. I even got all weepy when I heard that new song, Private Malloy on the Radio. Very sad but timely song about a Vietnam soldier who never came home.
One more thought, Thank God for our Brave Men and women soldiers who are fighting against this madness and EVIL, both here and overseas. They are the ones who are risking everything to save the rest of us, and to save our Nation.
And Thank God, too, for President Bush.
...GOODHEARTS - BRAVEHEARTS 4-Freedoom...
Also, I did hear on the news that he contracted it from drinking tainted water.
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