Health

Florida Man Hospitalized With Anthrax

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

January 31, 2002 / 8:43 AM EST / CBS

A 63-year-old man from Palm Beach County has been hospitalized in Florida with an extremely rare form of anthrax.

Investigators believe the illness is not related to the recent attacks in New York and Washington but have not completely ruled out the possibility of foul play.

"We have had no other suspect cases of anthrax since the diagnosis of this particular case. That's the good news. This is an isolated case as we speak right now," said Dr. Jean Malecki, the director of the Palm Beach County Health Department.

Malecki emphasized that anthrax is not a contagious disease. "This cannot be transmitted person to person, and that should calm the public," she said.

Anthrax is a spore-forming bacterium that causes pneumonia. There is a vaccine to prevent the spread of the disease, but it is available only to the military now.

The bacterium has been developed by some countries as a possible biological weapon, but the disease can also be contracted naturally.

There are three different strains of anthrax: skin, gastrointestinal, and pulmonary (inhalation). The Florida man has a case of pulmonary anthrax, which is the most virulent type. He is now known to be critically ill, on a ventilator.

Dr. Jeffrey Koplan, from the Centers for Disease Control, said there is no evidence showing that the Florida patient contracted anthrax from either contaminated drinking water or direct contact with the germ. Authorities are investigating the possibility that he may have gotten the disease from deliberately contaminated air.