Posted on 10/12/2001 1:26:47 PM PDT by RickyJ
WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 — The FBI has launched a criminal investigation to find the source of a new case of anthrax in New York City, this one involving an NBC News employee, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced Friday. The new revelation added to worries about bioterrorism, and public health officials were on heightened alert.
NBC EXECUTIVES said that the infected female employee, who works for "Nightly News," tested positive for cutaneous anthrax after handling a letter filled with a "powdery substance" that arrived at the network's New York headquarters on Sept. 25. But it was not clear whether the powder was the actual source of the bacteria, since initial tests found no evidence of anthrax spores.
The NBC employee, whose identity was not released, was being treated with antibiotics and was expected to make a full recovery, said Andrew Lack, NBC's president and chief operating officer.
Speaking at a news conference along with Lack, New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said the disease was detected after the employee came down with "a low-grade fever and a bad rash." A skin biopsy of the employee came back positive for cutaneous anthrax.
White House officials said President Bush was informed of the new case early Friday.
An FBI official said there was no evidence linking the case to either the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks or the case of inhalational anthrax in Florida. Cutaneous anthrax is contracted through the skin rather than through breathing. The skin form of the disease is not considered as lethal as the inhaled type, which led to the Oct. 5 death of a photo editor in Florida. Two other workers in the same Florida building tested positive for respiratory exposure to anthrax spores, although they did not actually contract the disease.
AGGRESSIVE RESPONSE
Tommy Thompson, secretary of health and human services, said the federal government was responding "very aggressively" to cases of anthrax exposure.
"The public needs to understand that our public health system is on a heightened state of alert for any diseases that may come from any kind of biological attack or any kind of terrorist attack," Thompson said in a joint news conference with Ashcroft.
He urged Americans to notify their doctors if they had any growing, itchy, dark skin lesions — one of the main symptoms of skin anthrax. He also asked people not to hoard anthrax antibiotics, saying the government had enough to treat those who might require the drugs.
Ashcroft said the FBI was working with the Centers for Disease Control, the New York City health department and postal workers to track down the source of the new infection. "At this time the source of the anthrax is being investigated and has not yet been determined," he said.
He and other federal officials said businesses and individuals should take extra care with suspicious mail — letters or packages that seem unexpected or unfamiliar, bear no recognizable return address, have an unusual shape or weight, or exhibit strange stains or odors.
However, officials also noted that there have been many anthrax hoaxes and false alarms in the past. "We will prosecute anyone who looks at this as an opportunity to settle grudges or perpetrate hoaxes," said Ken Newman, deputy chief postal inspector.
In the wake of the NBC case, some areas of the network's Manhattan headquarters were sealed off for environmental tests. Network employees who may have come in contact with the letter also would be tested for anthrax and given antibiotics as a precaution, Giuliani said.
Some offices were also shut down at other media organizations — including The New York Times — and at the State Department in Washington to check for suspicious materials, but no further hazards were reported.
Government officials urged calm. "People should not overreact to this," Giuliani said. "Everyone wants to go the extra lengths to assure that there are no problems."
FLORIDA PROBE CONTINUES
In Florida, investigators were still trying to identify the source of the anthrax that killed Bob Stevens, a 63-year-old photo editor at American Media, which publishes several nationally distributed tabloid newspapers.
On Thursday, the FBI reported that traces of anthrax in the mailroom of the company's office. But officials said they found no evidence that the strain was stolen from a laboratory.
Federal officials began a criminal investigation into the source of anthrax contamination at American Media's Boca Raton headquarters after a third person — 36-year-old Stephanie Dailey — tested positive for exposure Wednesday night.
Dailey, who worked in the mailroom of the tabloid The Sun with Ernesto Blanco, 73, who also had anthrax spores in his nasal passages, returned to work in temporary offices Thursday.
"I just want to say I'm fine," she told a crowd of reporters from her front yard in nearby Boynton Beach.
She is taking antibiotics and has shown no symptoms of anthrax disease. Blanco has been in good condition in the hospital receiving antibiotics since Monday. Dailey refused to discuss how she may have come into contact with the bacteria, citing the ongoing investigation. She is an office services associate whose duties include receiving packages and delivering the mail.
Did a search on "Anthrax"
184 threads since 9/28 with "Anthrax" in the title.
I'M SICK OF ANTHRAX!(no pun intended)
Thanks,I feel better now.
The following is the full text of NBC's memo to its employees regarding anthrax:
To: NBC Employees From: Bob Wright and Andy Lack Date: October 12, 2001
Today we learned that one of our employees at 30 Rockefeller Center has tested positive for the cutaneous (skin) anthrax infection. It is important to note that this is NOT the same respiratory anthrax that has been reported in the news. Obviously, we are concerned for the employee's well-being. She has received treatment and is responding well. She is in no danger, and she should recover fully and completely. The NYC Department of Health is coordinating her ongoing care.
We have no reason to believe that this particular incident has spread beyond this individual employee.
We continue to work with the authorities, including the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the FBI, and the NYC Department of Health, and there is an ongoing investigation.
At this point, we know that some suspicious mail was received. The NYC Department of Health, the CDC, and the FBI were contacted immediately. The mail was tested by these organizations, and the employee was treated by several physicians. All these tests came back negative. However, this morning, a later test on the employee came back positive for traces of cutaneous anthrax.
We have heightened security measures even further after events of September 11. We continue to work with the Department of Health, the FBI and the CDC to ensure employee safety and we will communicate all information as quickly and completely as possible. However, if you have concerns or questions, contact your department head or the NBC Medical Center. We are in the process of setting up an information center for employee questions and answers.
We will send another notice shortly with the phone number for the information center. As more information becomes available, we will share it with you immediately.
We will be holding a press conference today at noon with Mayor Giuliani. For those of you in New York, you will be able to watch on Jerrold. We will send you more details as soon as possible.
This seems to me as if they're misleading the public into thinking that there are different bacteria involved here. They're insinuating that since it's the cutaneous form it's not related to the FL cases. Is our government that stupid, are they being deliberately misleading, or am I reading this wrong? Any ideas?
Three blondes walking in the woods when they come across some tracks.
The first blond says,"looks like deer tracks."
The second blond says,"looks like bear tracks."
The third blond says,"looks like wolf tracks."
Just then a train comes along and kills them all.
Bota,bing,bota boom!!
Would certainly lighten the mood!!
"Gerbil detected in third person"
"Florida cases likely to be first ever Gerbil attack"
Yikes! Shoot him dead... ask questions later!
I've noticed lots of suspicious people buying flour, sugar and coffee mate (tm) at the grocery store lately... WHY ISN'T ANYONE DOING ANYTHING ABOUT THIS!
LET'S ROLE!
From what we know of the anthrax occurences so far, it seems unlikely that a whole building would be exposed and only one person would develop the inhaled infection and die if the strain described in your link were used.
By LARRY McSHANE, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - An NBC News employee was infected with the skin form of anthrax after the network received mail containing a suspicious powder, authorities said Friday. A network source said the envelope was addressed to anchorman Tom Brokaw.
The anthrax is far less serious than the inhaled form of the disease, which killed a Florida man a week ago. The NBC employee is being treated with antibiotics and is expected to recover, the network said.
Barry Mawn, head of the FBI office in New York, said authorities ``see no connection whatsoever'' to the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center. The FBI is checking to see if there is a link to the Florida case, but ``preliminarily I do not see that,'' Mawn said.
The FBI has begun a criminal investigation to find the source of the anthrax in the New York case, Attorney General John Ashcroft said in Washington. An investigation is also under way in Florida.
Ashcroft said the letter to NBC postmarked Sept. 25 ``may have transmitted the anthrax,'' but authorities stopped short of saying the mail was the source.
The envelope ``may have contained material contaminated with the spore-form of anthrax,'' according to a statement from the federal Centers for Disease Control.
NBC said a test result confirming the infection at its Rockefeller Center headquarters came back Friday morning. The infected woman is an assistant to Brokaw, network officials said on condition of anonymity. One said Brokaw was being tested for anthrax.
``Living in New York and working in this building for this company, you're already on edge,'' said Brian Rolapp, 29, a business development manager for NBC. ``But I think everyone is a little startled that it's this close to home.''
Skin and inhaled forms of anthrax are caused by the same bacterium. The only difference is whether the microscopic spores enter the skin through a cut or if there are enough spores to be inhaled and thus cause infection through the lungs. It takes more than 8,000 spores to cause the inhalation form of anthrax.
Neither form can be spread directly from person to person.
The first symptoms of skin - or cutaneous - anthrax are reddish-black sores on the exposed skin. If the disease is caught at that point and treated with antibiotics it is easily cured. Even without treatment, cutaneous anthrax is fatal in only one case out of 20.
Officials advised people not to open or even shake any suspicious mail. Instead, they should leave it alone and contact authorities.
``Our nation is still in danger but the government is doing everything on our power to protect our citizenry,'' President Bush said during a White House event celebrating Hispanic heritage.
``The American people need to go about their lives. We cannot let terrorists lock our country down,'' he said. ``They will not take this country down.''
At a news conference in New York, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said tests would be done at the NBC offices. The third floor and one or two other parts of the 70-story GE Building at 30 Rockefeller Center were sealed off for federal health investigators. Those areas of the building were cleared of employees.
Brokaw, who attended the hastily called news conference, rubbed his eyes, wiped his brow and did not speak except when asked if the woman was his secretary. ``She is an employee of `Nightly News,''' Brokaw replied.
The infected woman has been treated with the antibiotic Cipro since Oct. 1, officials said. The mayor said all employees exposed to the powder will be tested for anthrax and treated with Cipro.
``People should not overreact to this,'' Giuliani said. ``Much of this is being done to allay people's fears.''
A spokeswoman for The New York Times said reporter Judith Miller had received an envelope containing a ``powdery white substance.'' The substance was being tested by health authorities.
Miller, who was formerly stationed in the Middle East, is co-author of the book ``Germ: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War.''
After the envelope arrived, employees were moved out of the third-floor newsroom to other areas in the building on West 43rd Street, spokeswoman Christine Mohan said.
Air tests for radioactive and chemical substances were negative, she said. She also said the substance smelled like talcum powder.
The GE Building in midtown Manhattan, in addition to being the headquarters for NBC, is home to ``Saturday Night Live'' and ``Late Night With Conan O'Brien.'' Crowds milled around the front of the building and barricades were put up Friday, but no streets were closed.
The Associated Press, located across the street, temporarily closed its mailroom operations. CBS also said it shut down its New York mailroom as a precaution and was not accepting new mail. ABC said it halted all internal mail delivery in New York and Washington pending a security evaluation
After receiving the mail last month, NBC said it immediately contacted the FBI, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the New York Department of Health.
``The mail was tested by these organizations, and the employee was treated by several physicians. All these tests came back negative,'' NBC said Friday. ``However, this morning, a later test on the employee came back positive for traces of cutaneous anthrax.''
The disclosure came a week after a photo editor for The Sun supermarket tabloid in Boca Raton, Fla., died of inhaled form of anthrax. The American Media Inc. building where several supermarket tabloids are published was sealed off after anthrax was also found on the keyboard of the editor, Bob Stevens, 63, and in the nasal passages of two co-workers.
Traces of anthrax were later found in the American Media mailroom, authorities said. The other two employees are taking antibiotics and one has returned to work.
At an afternoon news conference in Florida, FBI special agent Hector Pesquera said test results of 965 people who were in the building recently have found no new infections. A few test results were still pending.
Investigators also tested 15 clerks who worked in the South Florida post office that handled American Media's mail, a union official said.
-
EDITOR'S NOTE - Associated Press Television Writer David Bauder contributed to this report.
Uh, call me stupid, but I thought this wasn't contagious???? Why would Brokenjaw be tested? Does he normally handle mail? Does he have any strange lumps on his body? (Besides his head, of course.) Strangerer and strangerer.
Exactly.
"I've been listening to the police scanner, and there are many, many unfounded cases of suspicious packages, fumes, and envelopes."
This is looking too much like a Tom Stoppard screenplay.
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