Canada to quarantine ship after Anthrax kills first mate

Canada.com ^ | Thursday, April 24, 2003 | Canadian Press

[canuck_conservative]

Federal officials are preparing to place an Egyptian ship under quarantine following the death of the vessel's first mate from the bacterial disease anthrax, Le Soleil reports today.

The Wadi Al Arab left Brazil earlier this week after it dropped off the body of a deceased crew member, said the Quebec City newspaper.

The ship was scheduled to drop off a load of bauxite at an Alcan aluminum plant in Saguenay, Que., but it has been diverted to Halifax.

The Wadi Al Arab was still outside Canadian waters last night. Officials with Health Canada, the RCMP and Transport Canada were scheduled to meet the ship to conduct full decontamination procedures, said Alcan spokeswoman Margot Tapp.

Anthrax is a fatal bacterial disease of sheep and cattle, transferable to humans and usually affecting the skin and lungs.

© Copyright 2003 The Ottawa Citizen

[canuck_conservative]

Heard a brief mention on the news last nite, but it took a LOT a work to find this article.

And WTF is anthrax doing on an aluminum ship, anyway?!

[ellery]

Interesting --bttt

[caa26]

I would hope at the very least this ship will be throughly checked for terrorists who may be shipping WMD's. Is it confirmed that this guy died from Anthrax?

Would there be any logical explanation for this guy catching Anthrax on the ship, or maybe he caught it before leaving port?

[max_rpf]

Depends on what he was doing in Brazil. Brazil isn't Argentina though, and it is not easy to catch it under natural circumstances...

[templar]

And WTF is anthrax doing on an aluminum ship, anyway?!

An interesting question. If the guy wasn't a farm worker in the recent past, something happened on the ship or the last port he was on shore at. Or the ship has also been hauling livestock or skins maybe? Wonder whree it was prior to Brazil (the article suggests he died before arriving there)?

Being it is an Egyptin ship, presumably with a largely middle eastern crew, could suggest other possibilities as well. Or perhaps they make cows from aluminum nowadays.

[martianagent]

And WTF is anthrax doing on an aluminum ship, anyway?!

You can get anthrax from terrorism or..... Did the first mate have his pet sheep on board??

[Constitution Day]

Verrry interesting!

[Howlin]

Isn't it odd that Canada feels the need to qurantine this ship, all the while whining about the WHO telling people not to go to Toronto.

[Constitution Day]

I heard a group from a Wilson school cancelled a trip to Toronto because of SARS... and this is far worse!

[Howlin]

Here in Raleigh, too. 150 students.

I did hear that some of the dimbulbs over at Chapel Hill still intend to go.

[firewalk]

bttt

[Coop]

Given our northern neighbor's cold shoulder when we needed help, I'd like to know why these student groups had not cancelled the Canada trips prior to the SARS scare.

[CWOJackson]

Divert the ship to France.

[CWOJackson]

Divert the ship to France.

[Archimedes2000]

Cutaneous Anthrax is the most common form of Anthrax occuring in nature. It is not normally lethal unless it goes untreated. Inhalation Anthrax is far more rare, and it would be odd, to say the least, for a sailor to cantract this in the normal course of duties.

I smell a rat on this one.

[eBelasco]

Given their cold shoulder, I wonder if we didn't have a little bird at the WHO plant the idea of this travel warning against Toronto.