Posted on: Monday, October 8, 2001

Anthrax infects second man

Associated Press

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Anthrax has been detected in a co-worker of a man who died after contracting a rare inhaled form of the disease, and tests at the building where both worked have found evidence of the bacterium, authorities said today.

A nasal swab from the man, whose name was not immediately made public, tested positive for the anthrax bacterium, said Tim O'Conner, regional spokesman for the Florida Department of Health.

It was not yet clear if anthrax had spread to his lungs or if he had a full-blown case of the disease. The man was in stable condition at an unidentified hospital, according to both the Florida and North Carolina health departments.

His co-worker Bob Stevens had recently visited North Carolina.

Stevens died Friday, the first person in 25 years in the United States to have died from an inhaled form of anthrax.

News that Stevens had contracted the disease set off fears of bioterrorism, especially when it was revealed that a suspected terrorist was believed to have recently visited an airfield about 40 miles from Stevens' home in Lantana and asked questions about crop-dusters.

O'Conner said he couldn't say that the second case was related to terrorism. "That would take a turn in the investigation," said O'Conner. "It's a different aspect, we were thinking more of environmental sources."

Stevens, 63, was a photo editor at the supermarket tabloid The Sun. Environmental tests performed at the Sun's offices in Boca Raton have detected the anthrax bacterium, said O'Conner.

The Sun's offices have been closed, and law enforcement, local and state health and CDC officials were to take additional samples from the building on today, O'Conner said.

About 300 people who work in the building are being contacted by the Sun and instructed not come to work today and to undergo antibiotic treatment to prevent the disease.

The FBI was helping in the search for the source of the bacterium, said Miami FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela. But "the current risk of anthrax is extremely low," O'Conner said.

"We're waiting for additional testing to see if it will become a confirmed case of anthrax or not," said Barbara Reynolds, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. "I realize for the public this is going to be a very slight distinction."

Michael Kahane, vice president and general counsel of American Media Inc., which publishes the Sun, confirmed the company closed its Boca Raton building at the request of state health officials.