Man fights for life with anthrax infection
A man left fighting for his life in an American hospital after contracting a rare form of anthrax was not believed to be linked to a possible bio-terrorism attack, the US health secretary has said.
Robert Stevens, 63, of Lantana, Florida, was in a critical condition, sedated and on a ventilator in the JFK Medical Centre in Palm Beach after yesterday being confirmed as having contracted the infection.
The illness was described as ‘‘isolated’’ by American health secretary Tommy Thompson, who yesterday said it was not believed to be linked to possible bio-terrorism.
Mr Thompson said the man was ‘‘of British descent’’ but it was unclear whether he is a British citizen.
Dr Larry Bush, of the JFK Medical Centre, said Mr Stevens had been admitted on October 1 suffering from confusion and vomiting and the diagnosis of anthrax had been confirmed yesterday.
He added that the man was in a ‘‘critical’’ condition on a ventilator.
Mr Stevens contracted the infection by inhaling spores of the anthrax bacteria, the rarest way to become ill with the exceptionally rare disease.
Dr Bush said the 63-year-old was thought to have contracted the infection in Florida. The FBI and the Centre for Disease Control have been informed.
‘‘He is critically ill but hopefully will respond to the treatment,’’ said the doctor.
US Health Secretary Tommy Thompson stressed that early indications were that it was an isolated case, and said the infection was not contagious or communicable.
It is treatable with penicillin in its early phases but without treatment it can cause severe breathing difficulty and is fatal in most cases.
Mr Thompson said the ‘‘heightened level of disease monitoring’’ because of the September 11 terror strikes could have meant the infection was spotted more quickly.
The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon led to widespread fears of a chemical or biological attack.
Suspected hijackers and their associates were reported to have looked at hiring crop-dusting planes and transporting chemicals.
Several of the suspects underwent pilot training in Florida before the terror strikes, which killed thousands.
Anthrax is a potentially deadly bacterial infection which is most common in cattle, sheep and goats, and its spores can live in the soil for years.
The infection can be spread through spores coming into contact with the skin, being swallowed or by being inhaled, which leads to the rarest and most serious form of the illness in humans.
Inhalation is also the anthrax form most commonly linked with the threat of terrorist attack.
Military personnel are given vaccinations for it because of the threat of biological warfare and Mr Thompson said America had enough drugs to treat two million people for 60 days.
The World Health Organisation has warned of the threat of biological weapons, and the attention of military and scientific experts has focused on anthrax because, in its spore form, it could be spread through an aerosol from an aeroplane and is relatively safe for terrorists to handle.
In its early stages, inhalation anthrax is difficult to distinguish from the common cold which means that by the time the diagnosis is made, the initial exposure could have affected tens of thousands of people.
Bioterrorists could grow it from a vial of the bacteria and a batch of culture, and the equipment needed to culture micro-organisms is said to be found inside the everyday fridge and the local supermarket.
Mr Thompson said isolated cases of anthrax had occurred before in America.
The most recent was in Texas last year and there was a case in Florida in 1974, he said.
Mr Thompson said Mr Stevens was ‘‘an outdoors man’’, believed to mean he was a hunter.
