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ANTHRAX, INHALATION - USA (PENNSYLVANIA, NEW YORK) (03)
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A ProMED-mail post
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International Society for Infectious Diseases
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Date: 26 Feb 2006
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: New York Times, 26 Feb 2006 [edited]
<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/26/nyregion/26anthrax.html?_r=1&oref=slogin>
City officials await anthrax test results
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The New York City man who contracted inhalation anthrax after working with
untreated animal hides remained in a serious condition yesterday [25 Feb
2006], as the authorities awaited results of laboratory tests from the
Crown Heights, Brooklyn home of one of the man's colleagues. The 44 year
old man is believed to have inhaled anthrax spores while working with
unprocessed goatskins he brought into the United States from Africa. The
man, who used the hides to make traditional African drums, collapsed on 16
Feb 2006 after performing in Mansfield, Pennsylvania.
His apartment in Manhattan and his studio at a warehouse in Brooklyn where
he worked with the skins tested positive for anthrax on Friday [24 Feb 2006].
A Dodge van the man is believed to have used to transport the hides also
tested positive. A residence in Crown Heights, where his drumming colleague
lived, has also been tested, but results are still pending. Officials said
untreated hides from the man's studio were taken to the Crown Heights
apartment at 1100 Dean Street and processed.
The man's colleague, whose name has not been released, knows him because he
would often have his drums fixed by him, said a woman who identified
herself as the man's girlfriend. The woman, who did not want her name used,
said she was one of 7 people officials have given antibiotics to as a
precaution.
At a building on Argyle Road in Ditmas Park West in Brooklyn, the police
said they found 50 to 60 animal skins in the garage of another man they
believe sold the victim additional hides. The supplier is not the subject
of a police investigation and did not appear to have any criminal ties,
said Paul J Browne, the Police Department's chief spokesman.
Andrew Tucker, a spokesman for the city's Department of Health and Mental
Hygiene, said the agency was investigating areas where the hides were
processed. He said no processing occurred at the Argyle Road location, and
no tests for anthrax were done there, since it did not pose a health risk.
The man's health worsened on Friday [24 Feb 2006], when he was downgraded
from stable to serious condition at Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre,
Pennsylvania. A hospital spokeswoman did not provide details on his
condition yesterday [25 Feb 2006], except to say that doctors were working
with experts from the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the federal
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on his treatment.
[byline: Manny Fernandez, Kareem Fahim, John Holl, Winnie Huand, Jeremy Smerd]
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[Since I doubt that the man is the only person in New York city
bringing/importing goat hides from abroad, including from West Africa, one
must wonder whether anyone has considered doing a check on the actual
bacteriological status of these sun dried hides, anecdotally for sale in
various parts of the city. If nothing else, it would ensure that some
graduate students at the various public health schools in the city would
get some fresh air and exercise as well as practising their skills at
obtaining voluntary compliance from members of the public.
In addition, I hope that multiple cultures were made from the man's
establishments and car and checked for heterology of the genetic strains.
If they are all the same -- I am told that his infection has been strain
typed -- one might presume that the contamination is a one-off, unless of
course more than one of his recently acquired hides was infected and
assuming that they are still available for rechecking. - Mod.MHJ]
[see also:
Anthrax, inhalation, human - USA (PA,NY) (02) 20060223.0586
Anthrax, inhalation, human - USA (PA, NY) ex Cote d'Ivoire 20060222.0574]
...............mhj/msp/sh
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