Posted on 04/28/2003 11:48:43 AM PDT by fightinJAG
Health Canada awaits anthrax ship results
Globe and Mail Update with Canadian Press
Health Canada officials looking into whether a ship quarantined off the coast of Nova Scotia contains traces of deadly anthrax are awaiting test results from swab samples.
The results are expected from a lab in Halifax late Monday or Tuesday, Health Canada spokeswoman Jennifer Tramble told globeandmail.com on Monday.
The results will indicate whether or not there is any trace of anthrax on the ship. The ship would be released if it was cleared of anthrax or any other communicable disease.
The Egyptian vessel was placed under a 1,000-metre exclusion zone when it arrived near the mouth of the Halifax harbour early Friday. Canadian officials will keep the bulk carrier out at sea until they can determine whether there are traces of the bacteria, which is suspected of having caused the death of the ship’s chief officer about 10 days ago in Brazil.
A specialist with the Brazilian Health Department said the anthrax traces were discovered in the unidentified man’s body after he died while the ship was off Brazil. However, a conclusive autopsy report had yet to be completed.
Six specialists, armed with protective suits, masks and jugs of bleach, inspected the 225-metre Wadi Al Arab, an Egyptian vessel anchored about 10 kilometres offshore on Saturday morning.
They completed their search in the afternoon after taking swab samples from the ship’s cabins, living quarters, galley and bridge to determine if the vessel is contaminated with the lethal bacterial disease.
The team of quarantine and environmental officers also spoke with the ship’s captain and all 31 crew members. The crew remains on the ship.
“All of the crew were fine, healthy,” Ms. Tramble said. “They were very co-operative.”
The ship was headed to an Alcan Inc. smelter on the Saguenay River in Quebec, but was diverted to Nova Scotia after it was learned the man might have died from anthrax, an infection that usually afflicts sheep and cattle, but which is transmissible to humans.
Officials know very little about what happened to the officer, said to be an Egyptian in his 50s who was part of a crew change just days before he died. It is thought he died two days after the Wadi Al Arab left a Brazilian port about two weeks ago. His body was removed and the vessel was sanitized
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