As I posted on another thread, there have only been 18 cases of inhalational anthrax reported in the United States since 1900. Also, epidemiological clues to a biological weapon attack:
Unusual geographical area of occurrence, vector-borne disease in an area without these vectors, epidemic simultaneously, more morbidity and mortality than expected, decreased rates in protected personnel
Until the second clue appears, it is only speculation.
Still, for those who say you can't spread airborne anthrax, I remind you that the spore of the bacterium is stable especially in aerosol form. The insidious nature of spread and resulting confusion is appealing to terrorists. The US Secretary of Defense, William Cohen, once raised a 5 lb bag of sugar on television to demonstrate the amount of anthrax spores that could kill 50% of Washington's population.
Just a thought: If animals get it from sniffing around the ground - This guy is an outdoorsman who just got back from a hunting trip he may have slept on the ground or even reclined on the ground to rest or whatever and he happened to do it in an infected area and inhaled the spores. I think freeking out over one case is exactly what those bastards want. If he is a vistims of a bio attack we should see many more cases in the next couple of days. Also someone stated above that Thompson didn't reassure them. Well all the man can do is state what he knows and I'd rather have the facts then be mislead. I know this can be a scary time but we have got to avoid running willynilly in fear everytime something happens.