FEDS FEAR KILLER DELIVERED SPORES

New York Post ^ | 11/23/01 | MURRAY WEISS

[kattracks]

November 23, 2001 -- The twin mysteries of how two women - one a hard-working Manhattan hospital clerk, the other a frail Connecticut retiree - contracted inhalation anthrax have raised the specter of the saboteur delivering the lethal doses in person, instead of by mail.

[maestro]

Your# 46).......??What about in soaps or laundry detergents??
Women would naturally 'smell' a new product.

[krunkygirl]

and my 19 yr. old son is a 'punk' but sometimes he saves me from myself, too! lol...

[Vigilantcitizen]

#2----Then why no trace in her mailbox or her home?

Good question but methinks the gubnit ain't tellin' the whole tale as to not ruin the USPS.

[krunkygirl]

that's a good thought...the anthrax granules would virtually disappear in the laundry soap, but I doubt (except for the white powder in the Atta rental car!) that the authorities would overlook anything in Mrs. L's home...

[maestro]

If,.....If these two women were 'targeted', then they most likely were NOT 'ordinary'.
It would remain to be seen.
IMHO

[maestro]

Maybe, a door-to-door, street vendor, or, a total stranger (male or female with child) asking for a personal opinion as to a product.
Everybody has an opinion.

[Libertariano]

My network TV news on 11-19 reports Ottillie being driven to ER by a friend, BRINGING an unsealed powdered letter - causing ER to immediately call HazMat to contain - and now the source of her contamination is a 'mystery' - have the feds and the press once again sanitized the dirty reality of another anthrax letter ???

[krunkygirl]

but my contention is that they were targeted precisely because they were ordinary--no logical connecting thread to earlier victims--and, perhaps more importantly, they were EASILY and READILY available. Two unfortunate women who just happened to be chosen at the time the 'evildoer' was looking for a victim and there they were...

[krunkygirl]

wish I could comment but don't know anything about this...

[Hagrid]

The same exact 2 points occurred to me, though both could have gotten it from incidental mail, long destroyed.

[Hagrid]

Lundgren's letter tested negative in initial tests for biological material--probably the actual letter was destroyed by her a few days before she got sick.

[Miss Marple]

Morning update: Connecticut health authorities are asking hospitals to review deaths of people with flu-like symptoms to see if any cases of anthrax were overlooked. Source: Fox News Network, 7:00 AM news report.

[Norb2569]

Leahy is a senator from CT so the name would be familiar to him/her.

Leahy is from Vermont, not Connecticut.

[Bernard]

Gee - has anybody heard about relatives or neighbors of the 94-year old? From all the TV movies I've seen, that should be the first line of questioning. Something about spilling the spores in granny's basement.

[Miss Marple]

Connecticut freepers posted in the earlier part of this thread that she wasn't the owner of a farm and probably wasn't wealthy, having lived as a widow for 20 years after the death of her husband.

I am certain that the police have looked at her relatives, but even if they were the culprits, where did they get the anthrax?

[The Raven]

What is the background level of "pneumonia" deaths that were actually undiagnosed inhalation anthrax

After 9/11 we have to assume all anthrax cases are intentional. Besides - Connecticut and Manhatten are both driving distance from NJ and both may have received contaminated mail. US Mail is a common denominator with darn near the whole US.

[oldironsides]

Makes you wonder about deaths like Jim Henson of the Muppets fame. He died quickly.

[Miss Marple]

Quite true. I had forgotten about him, and he died quickly and unexpectedly from pneumonia. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

[Fred25]

The situation with the Leahy envelope was that the machine address reader at the post office saw the serifs on the “1” and thought it was a “2”.