Anthrax Scare in Elk County, PA

Anthrax scare at Freeper Hometown Post Office, Rural PA ^ | 23 October 2001 | wtaj tv10 Newsgeek

[Petronski]

ELK COUNTY ANTHRAX SCARE A anthrax scare, in Elk County, PA. A postal worker in Saint Mary's has developed a skin lesion on his arm. He's been treated with the antibiotic Cipro and is waiting for blood tests, but preliminary tests show no signs of anthrax. Postmaster Mike Barker said if the worker tests positive, they will have all employees checked and the building will be quarintined.

[Petronski]

This is my current locale, folks. We have maybe 15000 people.

[Petronski]

The biggest part of this story as far as I have heard is that the TV trucks were here from the local CBS affiliate (see above). That's how rural we are.

Either it's a false alarm, or perhaps some local mail was sorted by the contaminated machine in DC?

[AmericanGurl]

Ping!

[Petronski]

I'm going to roll by in my car for an eyewitness report(!).

[Oldeconomybuyer]

There is also one in Topeka, Kansas. Seems a company located there repairs postal sorting equipment and is working on some sent from the Trenton, NJ post office that has tested positive for anthrax spores.

[Steven W.]

Why are all the workers not being put on Cipro immediately? If they take one or two tablets, and it turns out to be false, what have we lost?

a) Many people are allergic - they will possibly die if they take and find out they are allergic

b) Antibiotic effect may be lost if not applied, thus leaving the person exposable in the future with no benefit

c) Prescribing for short period of time, rather than full (2 month) period leaves enough in blood stream to help create cipro-safe viruses, thus creating the potential for new, deadly strains of viruses which could then infect other people with no antibiotic viable to crush.

d) Irresponsibly using for people with no need could take away from the supply for those who may well need.

Could keep going, but that's more than enough!

[snippy_about_it]

Columbus, Ohio also today. Our main post office received mail from the Brentwood Post Office (D.C.), a large order of stamps. They decontaminated the mail and sent home three workers to tell them to shower!

[Petronski]

Well, there is no police presence whatsoever, though the parking lot is quite full for this hour of the day, and the television satellite truck is still on hand. I suppose it's not breaking news until someone/something tests positive. Hope that never happens.

[Petronski]

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[Petronski]

I now have it on good authority that the worker's 'lesion' resembles a 'boil' or 'eruption,' but that there is no report of any black spot yet appearing in its center (a hallmark of anthrax).

[Petronski]

There are some twenty-thirty people who ought to be put on Cipro immediately, pending test results, but I don't think that folks are that wise about this. (Yet?)

Now the 6pm update is running:

It's raised area is about the size of a dime, with redness flaring outward from there, and is located on his right forearm about 2 inches down from the fold of his elbow.

It happened after he was throwing away a customer's junk mail.

Although the biopsy test was negative, the treating physician said that those tests can be wrong and that it DID LOOK LIKE cutaneous antrax. The doctor (Castellano) is known to me and is quite skilled. He said he places the probability of Anthrax at over 70%

[Petronski]

The results of the blood tests will be available tomorrow. They showed the lesion on television and although it has no blackened center, it did resemble others shown in the media in recent days.

I wonder if anyone is actually reading this thread...

[enough]

I am.

[UnsinkableMollyBrown]

bttt

[cynicom]

Yep

[AmericanGurl]

I'm reading it!

[shezza]

Re the tests, one of the things that bothers me is that Dan Rather's assistant apparently had a blood test for anthrax. Negative. She had fluid oozing from the lesion on her face tested for anthrax. Negative. It wasn't until they did a tissue biopsy that the anthrax showed up in the tests. She had initially been put on penicillin for the lesion on her face, and that didn't work. So they put her on a "cocktail" of antibiotics (this is what Rather said in his news conference last week). That didn't work, either. By then they heard about the anthrax at ABC, and she went on Cipro as a precaution. It wasn't until a few days later that the biopsy was done on her face, showing that she indeed had anthrax. Somebody needs to get hoppin' on the development of a more sensitive and accurate test for this thing, or there is going to be a problem with a) overprescribing Cipro as a "just in case" precaution, or b) anthrax going undiagnosed because initial test(s) showed negative results and thus the victim doesn't get treated properly. What's the prudent thing to do, put everybody within a 5-mile radius on Cipro while they're doing the rounds of tests, or keep watching and waiting until a positive comes back? I see both procedures being used right now.

[Petronski]

Thank you all. If you knew anything about St. Marys and Elk County you would wonder incredulously as I do: Here!?!

[seeker41]

I'm reading it as well, although my head is spinning trying to keep up with all that's going on of late. Thanks for posting this news.