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Possible anthrax case in Muskogee, Oklahoma
Tulsa World | 11-2-01 | Rod Walton

Posted on 11/02/2001 12:40:31 PM PST by DanDDynamo

MUSKOGEE - An unidentified man was being treated in a Muskogee Hospital Thurday for an illness he developed after he opened a letter that is now being tested for anthrax contamination.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
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A state Health Department lab in Oklahoma City could release the results of the testing Friday.

The incident, which happened the same day that anthrax spores were found at a postal center in Kansas City, Mo., raised fears that the deadly germs might somehow reach Oklahoma.

And although hoaxes have been abudnant throughout the state - including a scare Tuesday in the office of Muskogee Special District Judge Robin Adair - authorities believe they had reason to treat Thursday's incident seriously.

"What concerns us is the (man's) doctor was pretty concerned about it," Assistant Fire Chief Danny Tracy said. "We've got to treat it like it's the real thing."

A Muskogee police statement said the man apparently opened the "suspicious" letter Wednesday.

He began feeling sick and arrived at the Maternal and Family Practice office Thursday afternoon.

The man's physician, Dr. Mike Butner, called the ambulance service and police about the man's condition, Tracy said.

Butner was not available for comment Thursday evening.

"We don't know very much other than it was flu-like symptoms," Tracy said.

The man was taken to Muskogee Regional Medical Center, where his condition was not released. He remained at the hospital Thursday evening.

His car was examined briefly in the hospital's parking lot and then towed to the Davis Field airport for a closer inspection.

Motorists on Okmulgee Avenue saw firefighters, who were specially suited to handle hazardous materials, enter then '90s-model Chevrolet, the police statement said.

FBI agents and Muskogee Counter Emergency Management Director Mike Borum also were on the scene.

1 posted on 11/02/2001 12:40:32 PM PST by DanDDynamo
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To: PhiKapMom
Is this the right way for a newbie to post an article? :)
2 posted on 11/02/2001 12:42:00 PM PST by DanDDynamo
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To: DanDDynamo
You did fine. Welcome.
3 posted on 11/02/2001 12:43:27 PM PST by thesharkboy
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To: DanDDynamo
Oops. Are you sure this is "Foreign Affairs" related?
4 posted on 11/02/2001 12:44:14 PM PST by thesharkboy
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To: DanDDynamo
Yup. When did this report come out. The report says that they may know friday. Today's friday. What's the word?
5 posted on 11/02/2001 12:45:06 PM PST by Loopy
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To: thesharkboy
Well, the "Foreign Affairs" header said "War"...
6 posted on 11/02/2001 12:45:14 PM PST by DanDDynamo
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To: Loopy
Haven't heard yet. Stay tuned for the 5:00 news, coming up in a little over an hour.
7 posted on 11/02/2001 12:46:17 PM PST by DanDDynamo
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To: VOA
FYI...
8 posted on 11/02/2001 12:47:29 PM PST by DanDDynamo
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To: DanDDynamo
I'll be home by then. I'm on the east coast. Ain't Freepland great. Meet new people and all. He||, you're talking to a genuine bona fide Yankee!!!
9 posted on 11/02/2001 12:48:55 PM PST by Loopy
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To: DanDDynamo
You posted it superbly. Thanks.

The first 18 years of my life were spent in Muskogee, and I remember well the day that the Muskogee General Hospital, as it was then called, opened for business. It was in 1962, and my mom and I took one of the open-house tours. A PRIVATE room at the time cost the princely sum of $12.50 per day.

After the tour, we went directly across W. Okmulgee to Chet's Hot Dogs for some loaded chili-cheese pups, Fritos, and a great-huge Dr. Pepper. Manna.

As for this guy - it'll probably be just the latest in a string of either hoaxes of mis-diagnoses.

Michael

10 posted on 11/02/2001 12:52:31 PM PST by Wright is right!
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To: DanDDynamo
Looks good, but you need to try to put the source URL in the “SOURCE URL” box. In this case, the URL is the website address of the actual news story. If you do that, then anyone can click on the source name and his computer will take him directly to the news story as it was originally published. If you got the story out of the newspaper (rather than off the newspaper’s website) let us know.

LINK TO WEBSITE STORY

11 posted on 11/02/2001 12:53:27 PM PST by Fred25
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To: Wright is right!
Found this here

Oklahoma News
3:15 p.m. November 2, 2001

(Muskogee-AP) -- A letter sent to a man who later became sick with flu-like symptoms has tested negative for anthrax. The man went to a Muskogee doctor's office Wednesday and said he received a letter with a white powdery substance last week from a New York charity. F-B-I spokesman Gary Johnson says the man remains very ill with an undisclosed disease.

12 posted on 11/02/2001 12:54:31 PM PST by Pete
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To: DanDDynamo
Is Foreman Scotty with you?
13 posted on 11/02/2001 12:55:45 PM PST by motherlydia
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To: Wright is right!
Yes, but are you proud to be an Okie from Muskogee?
14 posted on 11/02/2001 12:56:19 PM PST by ThirdMate
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To: DanDDynamo
I bet they were after Merle Haggard.

We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee;
We don't take our trips on LSD;
We don't burn our draft cards down on Main Street;
We like livin' right, and bein' free.

We don't make a party out of lovin';
We like holdin' hands and pitchin' woo;
We don't let our hair grow long and shaggy,
Like the hippies out in San Francisco do.

I'm proud to be an Okie from Muskogee,
A place where even squares can have a ball.
We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
And white lightin's still the biggest thrill of all.

Leather boots are still in style for mainly footwear;
Beads and roman sandals won't be seen.
Football's still the roughest thing on campus,
And the kids here still respect the college dean.

And I'm proud to be an Okie from Muskogee,
A place where even squares can have a ball.
We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
And white lightin's still the biggest thrill of all.

We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
In Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA.

15 posted on 11/02/2001 12:58:03 PM PST by El Sordo
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To: Pete
Also found this here

Muskogee - A letter sent to a man who later became sick with flu-like symptons has tested negative for anthrax. F-B-I spokesman Gary Johnson says the man went to a Muskogee doctor's office Wednesday. The man said he had received a letter with a white powdery substance last week from a New York charity.

Johnson says the state Health Department is certain the letter did not contain anthrax.

State health officials say the letter is a solicitation from the American Cancer Society and had no visible powder at the time it was tested.

Johnson says the man is very ill and has been diagnosed with a disease that Johnson declined to reveal.

16 posted on 11/02/2001 12:59:35 PM PST by Pete
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To: Wright is right!
"...we went directly across W. Okmulgee to Chet's Hot Dogs for some loaded chili-cheese pups, Fritos, and a great-huge Dr. Pepper. Manna."

One suspects that, if the memory is this vivid after almost forty years, Chet's made a world-class chili dog!

That good, huh?

17 posted on 11/02/2001 1:00:12 PM PST by okie01
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To: motherlydia
Yes indeed, eternally so. As are Bazark the robot and Willie and Cannonball.
18 posted on 11/02/2001 1:00:50 PM PST by DanDDynamo
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To: Pete
with an undisclosed disease.

I hate when they say that. Why not just say the guy has the flu. Now I am going to have to go into paranoid mode again!!!!

19 posted on 11/02/2001 1:01:14 PM PST by Loopy
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To: Loopy
Check out this one!! What the hell does this guy have and where did he catch it?

Muskogee man's letter tests negative for anthrax
MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP)

A letter sent to a man who turned up ill at a Muskogee doctor's office tested negative for anthrax, and doctors diagnosed him with another illness, an FBI official said Friday.

The case is the latest in a string of anthrax scares in the state.

The 48-year-old man arrived at a Muskogee doctor's office with flu-like symptoms Wednesday

He said he had received a letter containing a powdery substance seven days ago from a New York charity, said FBI spokesman Gary Johnson.

But testing by the state Health Department lab found the letter negative for anthrax.

``They're certain it's not anthrax,'' Johnson said.

State health officials who performed the testing said the letter was a solicitation from the American Cancer Society and showed no visible powder at the time of testing.

Johnson said the man was not tested for anthrax. He remained very ill, and doctors had diagnosed him with a disease that Johnson declined to disclose.

20 posted on 11/02/2001 1:04:17 PM PST by Pete
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