Child of ABC Employee Gets Anthrax

[WriterDom]

By RON FOURNIER
.c The Associated Press


WASHINGTON (AP) - A child of an ABC News employee has been tested positive for anthrax, two officials said Monday.

The officials, both familiar with the investigation, said the child is being treated with antibiotics and is expected to recover. They spoke on condition of anonymity.

The anthrax diagnosed in the child is the type that is absorbed through cuts or scratches in the skin, not the more dangerous inhaled variety, the sources said.

The child had recently visited the ABC newsroom in New York, probably on Sept. 28, the source said.

New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and police officials were at ABC News on Monday evening, officials said.

Separately, police are investigating a letter that infected an NBC employee in New York last week.

The child's condition became public shortly after Florida health officals said a second empoyee of a supermarket tabloid in the state has the inhaled form of anthrax.

Ernesto Blanco, 73, was making good progress, Florida officials said.

Also on Monday, a letter initially testing positive for anthrax was discovered in the offices of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.

 

[Phoenyx]

I wonder what kind of jail time the person who stole the anthrax is gonna get..

 

[WriterDom]

I wonder what kind of jail time the person who stole the anthrax is gonna get..

Stolen or donated from Iraq?

 

[Oliver Clozoff]

It's actually not hard to get anthrax. A person who knows what he's doing can culture it from the dirt with some pretty easy to get bacterial culturing equipment. It's also available from various research and diagnostic labs. The tricky part is weaponizing it apparently - making it into a powder. Pretty scary, though.

 

[naudiz]

Here's what I'm wondering:

How often do people get infected with anthrax, of any variety, naturally? Is every single case only getting reported now because of the terrorism scare, or is it something that simply never happened until after 9/11?

Is every case of anthrax a result of sabotage?

I wonder what the number of cases were a year ago, or even two months ago, compared to now. If there is a noticeable increase, then I might start to worry. I'm not saying people shouldn't be cautious, but I'd like to know there is a substantial threat before I start losing sleep over it.

 

[loki]

I think the media has done a really good job of blowing this out of proportion. Out of 260 million people there have been maybe a dozen confirmed infections with only one fatality.

I think the general American puplic is in little danger unless you have the misfortune to work in a targeted area, the goverment and the media.

The terrorist or sick but not stupid. They attacked the media knowing that the media in turn would overplay the acutual threat and create a greater sense of terror in the American people.

just my opinion, but I'm not to worried about my personal safety.

 

[Guest]