Tuesday, October 16, 2001

No anthrax cases reported in Tarrant County
By Aaron Chimbel
Staff Reporter

Reports of anthrax cases across the nation have people on edge, but no cases have been reported so far in Tarrant County, a county epidemiologist said Monday.

There is no current threat to people living in Tarrant County, including TCU students, said epidemiologist Bobby Jones.

Anthrax was placed on the list of reported diseases last year after previously being taken off because it was so rare, Jones said.

“Since (anthrax) is a potential for bioterrorism it was placed back on the list,” Jones said.

He said anthrax is easily treated with antibiotics including penicillin, Cipro and doxycycline.

No cases of anthrax have been reported at TCU, said Health Center Director John Terrell.

TCU mailing services manager Glen Hulme said he is working on a policy for the TCU post office if a parcel suspected of having anthrax is found. He said the plan should be in place Tuesday. For now, he is instructing workers to be on high alert for any packages that may contain anthrax, look suspicious or contain powder.

An administration building at Abilene Christian University reportedly was sealed off for about two hours Oct. 9 because of a letter that eluded to anthrax. There was also a false case of anthrax reported in Austin Oct. 9.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, anthrax is an infectious disease caused by the spore-forming bacteria from hoofed mammals.

“Direct person-to-person spread of anthrax is extremely unlikely, if it occurs at all,” according to the CDC Web site.

There are three types of anthrax, intestinal, inhaled and skin or cutaneous. Inhaled anthrax is usually fatal, according to the CDC. About 95 percent of anthrax cases are cutaneous. Deaths from cutaneous anthrax are rare when it is treated, according to the CDC. Intestinal anthrax infects someone after they eat the contaminated meat of an animal with the disease. Intestinal anthrax, contributes to 25 to 60 percent of anthrax deaths.

According to a report by The Associated Press, anthrax has long been present in south Texas. This summer an outbreak in the southwestern part of the state, near Del Rio and Uvalde, killed hundreds of animals and made at least one man ill, the AP reported.

Jones said there have only been 18 deaths from inhaled anthrax in the United States in the last 100 years.

In Boca Raton, Fla. the FBI confirmed the first clear link between the hijackers and tabloid company employees who were exposed to anthrax, according to a report in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The wife of deceased photo editor of The Sun, Bob Stevens, rented an apartment this summer to two hijackers killed in the suicide attacks, the Star-Telegram reported.

The anthrax scare began in Florida on Oct. 4 when it was confirmed that Stevens had contracted the inhaled bacteria. He later died, the first such death in the United States since 1976.

In New York a letter suspected to contain a powder form of anthrax was addressed to NBC News Anchorman Tom Brokaw. An assistant to Brokaw received the letter and then tested positive for anthrax, the network released Friday. The assistant is being treated with antibiotics, the report stated.

Aaron Chimbel
a.a.chimbel@student.tcu.edu