ANTHRAX EXPOSURE
Feb 22, 2006 3:55 pm US/Eastern
http://1010wins.com/topstories/local_story_053145654.html(1010 WINS) (NEW YORK) A drum-maker who imports raw animal hides from Africa has been infected with anthrax in what is believed to be an isolated accident that poses no public health threat, officials said Wednesday.
The man traveled in December to Ivory Coast in west Africa and became ill shortly after his return, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. There was no evidence of any criminal intent or terrorist connection, the mayor said.
The man collapsed after performing last week with a dance company, Kotchegna, at the Steadman Theatre in Mansfield, Pa., according to Pennsylvania Department of Health Secretary Dr. Calvin B. Johnson.
On Feb. 17, blood tests were taken and by Feb. 20, the tests began to indicate the possible presence of anthrax.
He is in stable condition at the Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, Pa., just south of the New York border.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the 44-year-old man had worked with the animal hides at a work space in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn. At least four other people may have been exposed to anthrax spores and three are being treated with antibiotics, city Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said.
``Every indication suggests that this is naturally occurring anthrax,'' said Frieden.
Bloomberg called the illness ``what we believe at this point to be a completely isolated and accidental case'' of anthrax infection. FBI and police officials said there was no indication of terrorism.
Pennsylvania health officials and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control confirmed the case as inhalation anthrax on Wednesday, the mayor said.
Searches for contamination were under way in the man's rented storage and work area in Brooklyn, his vehicle, and in his West Village apartment, Bloomberg said.
Officials stressed that the case is unique and not related to any kind of intentional attack.
Weeks after the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the nation was on high alert as anthrax-laced letters popped up in several places, including New York City. NBC anchor Tom Brokaw, two U.S. senators and the offices of the New York Post were among the targets.
The anthrax attacks killed five people across the country, including a New York City hospital worker and two postal workers, and sickened 17. Investigators never determined who was responsible for the attacks.
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