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Fourth Pulmonary Anthrax Death Deepens Bio-Terror Fears
NEW YORK, Oct 31 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Inhalation anthrax claimed a fourth life Wednesday
- the first with no links to the media, political figures or the postal service - as the mystery surrounding bio-terror in the United States deepened.
Kathy Nguyen, 61, who worked in a supply room at the Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital, died early Wednesday, less than a week after developing the first symptoms of pulmonary anthrax, New York health authorities said.
In Washington, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the new death - the first in the bio-terrorism scare with no direct links to the media, government or the postal service - was "an event of concern."
So far, anthrax has killed two postal workers and a journalist. Eleven other people are infected, including at least seven other postal workers or mail handlers, three people connected with the media and a New Jersey resident with no connection to the postal service.
Investigators and health authorities are worried that the outbreak may be spreading further. They are trying to determine the source of the anthrax that killed the Vietnamese-born Nguyen after preliminary tests of her home and workplace came up negative for the deadly bacteria.
"That includes where she traveled, if she traveled domestically or foreign, they're talking to her neighbors, her friends, to determine who she might have been in contact with," said Fleischer.
Health officials were baffled by Nguyen's case.
"To have a situation where she gets inhalation anthrax and no evidence thus far within the place where she works of there being anthrax... makes this a very puzzling mystery," Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health told NBC television.
Steve Ostroff of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that Nguyen's case was of particular concern "because it doesn't fit the pattern" of links to postal workers, politicians or the news media in the bio-terror attack that has hit the United States.
The supply room where Nguyen worked was in the basement of the hospital and had recently shared space with a mailroom. But there was no evidence that she handled any mail, and no traces of anthrax had been found thus far in the facility.
Although she managed to check herself into Lennox Hill hospital on Sunday, her condition deteriorated rapidly and she was reportedly unable to speak to investigators.
Ten of some 40 environmental samples taken at the Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat hospital - which has been closed indefinitely, according to media reports - have returned negative.
Results from the remaining samples, as well as from samples taken at Nguyen's Bronx home, have not yet been released.
All staff, patients and visitors who have spent at least an hour at the hospital since October 11, two weeks before Nguyen first began showing symptoms, were urged to go to Lennox Hill, which is nearby, to collect a free two-week supply of antibiotics as a precaution.
Authorities estimate that some 2,000 people may be concerned.
The anthrax scare began with the October 5 death of a photo editor in Florida.
Three postal workers are infected in New Jersey, possibly after handling anthrax-laced letters that were mailed to NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and the
New York Post newspaper.
Traces of anthrax have also been found at the main post office in West Palm Beach, Florida, and at postal facilities in Washington and in Dulles, Virginia, authorities said Tuesday.
New York Governor George Pataki's Manhattan offices also contained traces of anthrax.
Anthrax spores were also found Monday at the U.S. Supreme Court, the State Department and at a building housing the Health and Human Services and the government-owned Voice of America radio.
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said Wednesday there was "no progress to report" in the Justice Department's investigation of who is responsible for the dissemination of the anthrax bacteria.
"I am not in the position to say we are on the brink of making an announcement," Ashcroft told reporters. "We have no progress to report at this time."
U.S. officials reported earlier that the attacks were most likely a case of domestic terrorism
The U.S. administration warned Monday that new terror attacks may be planned for this week, but said it did not have specific information as to the type of attack or specific targets.
"I wish I could turn the clock back to before September 11," Ashcroft said. "But the facts are different. We simply have an environment in which threats exist. I can't say the threats have abated."
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