Florida man who contracted anthrax dies

Associated Press

Investigators today gather samples from the home of Bob Stevens, who died after contracting anthrax.

Associated Press

Oct. 05, 2001 02:50:00

LANTANA, Fla. - A 63-year-old Florida man died of the inhaled form of anthrax today in the first such death in the United States in 25 years. Health officials said there is no evidence he was the victim of a terrorist attack, but the FBI and CDC are investigating.

Bob Stevens, a photo editor at the supermarket tabloid The Sun, died at JFK Medical Center in Atlantis after antibiotics failed against the infection, Dr. Jean Malecki said.

Federal and state health investigators have emphasized that the disease is not contagious and that no other cases have been reported. But they are trying to reconstruct Stevens' movements and track down the source of the disease.

Anthrax has been developed by some countries as a possible biological weapon, and the terrorist attacks Sept. 11 have put many people on edge about the threat. But anthrax can also be contracted naturally, often from farm animals or soil. Stevens was described as an avid outdoorsman.

FBI, CDC and state investigators sealed off Stevens' house in Lantana and searched it for about two hours Friday. When they left, they removed the yellow crime-scene tape. They were also searching his workplace.

Some in Lantana have been concerned because Mohamed Atta, believed to be one of the hijackers who destroyed the World Trade Center, had rented planes at a flight school at Palm Beach County Park Airport, according to the school's owner. Stevens' home is within a mile of the airport.

Also, Atta and other Middle Eastern men are believed to have visited an airfield in Belle Glade, about 40 miles from Lantana, and asked a lot of questions about crop-dusters. In addition, some of the suspected hijackers had lived at an apartment complex in Boynton Beach, about 10 miles from Lantana.

"I'm starting to get a little scared," said Louis Selitti Jr., 33, who lives across the street from Stevens. "To get something in our lungs, you have to breathe it in. Hopefully it wasn't around here."

The most recent previous U.S. case of anthrax was earlier this year in Texas. But that was the more common skin form, not the inhaled type of anthrax, an especially lethal and rare form in which the disease settles in the lungs.

During the 20th century, only 18 cases of inhaled anthrax were reported in the United States, the most recent in 1976. That, too, was deadly.

"There's no need for people to fear they are at risk," CDC Director Dr. Jeffrey P. Koplan said Thursday. But he said a release of the germ by terrorists is on the list of possibilities under investigation.

Eric Croddy, a bioterroism expert at California's Monterey Institute, said that everything so far leads him to believe that the government is right, that Stevens caught the disease naturally and that it is an isolated case. "He's an unfortunate, unlucky fellow," Croddy said.

Anthrax causes pneumonia, and patients are treated with antibiotics. There is also a vaccine to prevent the spread of the disease, but it is available only to the military now.

-- (doomer@doom.com), October 05, 2001

Answers

Say buh bye, helen bos and floridians.

-- (doomer@doom.com), October 05, 2001.

My Dear Sir;

In all probability you may be correct. It is almost certain, in any case. That there will be massive casualities either here. Or on the other continents. And FWIW there is at least one other Antrax victum (than the one acknowledged in Miami).

"As for me...I shall finish the Game...And it is almost Done"!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Shakey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-- Shakey (in_a_bunker@forty.feet), October 05, 2001.

Silliness.

-- Carlos (riffraff@cybertime.net), October 06, 2001.

shakey,

You've been in that damn bunker for as long as I can remember! I hope you at least bath on a regular basis!!

and we have a 100% chance of dying sometime in our lifetime.....

-- Gary (gcphelps@yahoo.com), October 06, 2001.

and JESUS said''who amongst you by worrying'can add a day to his life????

your day's are numbered=get over it!!

''prepare too meet thy maker''

this life ain,t ALL that!!

-- al-d. (dogs@zianet.com), October 06, 2001.

****** [2] Date: Fri 5 Oct 2001 12:05 PM From: Peter Turnbull

It seems a little premature to me to call this pulmonary anthrax. That term is generally reserved for anthrax acquired by inhaling the spores. I understand this person had meningeal symptoms, which as you know can be a sequel to any form of the disease. By the time he was being X-rayed, I suspect he had generalized edema and this, in the chest region, may have been regarded as pulmonary symptomatology. It will be interesting to see what CDC can trace in the way of infection source and route. But for now my suspicions are that it is not inhalation anthrax.

[ProMED-mail wishes to thank Dr. Turnbull, truly one of the world's leading authorities on anthrax, for his comments. - Man. Ed. DS]

-- Peter Turnbull

[But if it was not primarily pneumonic, which itself sets up problems of how did he get it, what was the primary lesion the meningitis infection followed? So far there are no reports of any other lesions. I suppose if he sniffed hard at some contaminated wool or picked his nose after handling some contaminated Haitian goat skins, for example, it would go almost straight to the brain via a lesion in his nasal turbinates, and if no one has looked up his nasal passages, any lesion there would be missed. Also drainage from a primary nasal lesion would be into the trachea and lungs. The autopsy will reveal more information.

Otherwise, the only other relevant information I have from various sources is that he had an obvious positive blood culture at the time of his positive lumbar tap on Tuesday. The organism was sensitive to 4 common antibiotics tested, including penicillin and ciprofloxacin. The careful initial positive identification was confirmed by CDC. The patient's care was certainly outstanding to have kept him going for so long. - Mod.MHJ] ........................mhj/pg/ds

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