Bioterrorism-related Inhalational Anthrax in an Elderly Woman, Connecticut, 2001
On November 20, 2001, inhalational anthrax was confirmed in an elderly woman from rural Connecticut. To determine her exposure source, we conducted an extensive epidemiologic, environmental, and laboratory investigation. Molecular subtyping showed that her isolate was indistinguishable from isolates...
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
2003-06-01
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doaj-80d342960cc24d5a91e256814c72c0502020-11-25T01:57:52ZengCenters for Disease Control and PreventionEmerging Infectious Diseases1080-60401080-60592003-06-019668168810.3201/eid0906.020728Bioterrorism-related Inhalational Anthrax in an Elderly Woman, Connecticut, 2001Kevin S. GriffithPaul S. MeadGregory L. ArmstrongJohn A. PainterKatherine A. KelleyAlex R. HoffmasterDonald MayoDiane BardenRenee RidzonUmesh D. ParasharEyasu Habtu TeshaleJen WilliamsStephanie NovielloJoseph F. PerzEric E. MastDavid L. SwerdlowJames L. HadlerOn November 20, 2001, inhalational anthrax was confirmed in an elderly woman from rural Connecticut. To determine her exposure source, we conducted an extensive epidemiologic, environmental, and laboratory investigation. Molecular subtyping showed that her isolate was indistinguishable from isolates associated with intentionally contaminated letters. No samples from her home or community yielded Bacillus anthracis, and she received no first-class letters from facilities known to have processed intentionally contaminated letters. Environmental sampling in the regional Connecticut postal facility yielded B. anthracis spores from 4 (31%) of 13 sorting machines. One extensively contaminated machine primarily processes bulk mail. A second machine that does final sorting of bulk mail for her zip code yielded B. anthracis on the column of bins for her carrier route. The evidence suggests she was exposed through a cross-contaminated bulk mail letter. Such cross-contamination of letters and postal facilities has implications for managing the response to future B. anthracis–contaminated mailings.https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/9/6/02-0728_articleBacillus anthracisbioterrorismConnecticutinhalational anthraxpostal facilitiesresearch |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Kevin S. Griffith Paul S. Mead Gregory L. Armstrong John A. Painter Katherine A. Kelley Alex R. Hoffmaster Donald Mayo Diane Barden Renee Ridzon Umesh D. Parashar Eyasu Habtu Teshale Jen Williams Stephanie Noviello Joseph F. Perz Eric E. Mast David L. Swerdlow James L. Hadler |
spellingShingle |
Kevin S. Griffith Paul S. Mead Gregory L. Armstrong John A. Painter Katherine A. Kelley Alex R. Hoffmaster Donald Mayo Diane Barden Renee Ridzon Umesh D. Parashar Eyasu Habtu Teshale Jen Williams Stephanie Noviello Joseph F. Perz Eric E. Mast David L. Swerdlow James L. Hadler Bioterrorism-related Inhalational Anthrax in an Elderly Woman, Connecticut, 2001 Emerging Infectious Diseases Bacillus anthracis bioterrorism Connecticut inhalational anthrax postal facilities research |
author_facet |
Kevin S. Griffith Paul S. Mead Gregory L. Armstrong John A. Painter Katherine A. Kelley Alex R. Hoffmaster Donald Mayo Diane Barden Renee Ridzon Umesh D. Parashar Eyasu Habtu Teshale Jen Williams Stephanie Noviello Joseph F. Perz Eric E. Mast David L. Swerdlow James L. Hadler |
author_sort |
Kevin S. Griffith |
title |
Bioterrorism-related Inhalational Anthrax in an Elderly Woman, Connecticut, 2001 |
title_short |
Bioterrorism-related Inhalational Anthrax in an Elderly Woman, Connecticut, 2001 |
title_full |
Bioterrorism-related Inhalational Anthrax in an Elderly Woman, Connecticut, 2001 |
title_fullStr |
Bioterrorism-related Inhalational Anthrax in an Elderly Woman, Connecticut, 2001 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Bioterrorism-related Inhalational Anthrax in an Elderly Woman, Connecticut, 2001 |
title_sort |
bioterrorism-related inhalational anthrax in an elderly woman, connecticut, 2001 |
publisher |
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |
series |
Emerging Infectious Diseases |
issn |
1080-6040 1080-6059 |
publishDate |
2003-06-01 |
description |
On November 20, 2001, inhalational anthrax was confirmed in an elderly woman from rural Connecticut. To determine her exposure source, we conducted an extensive epidemiologic, environmental, and laboratory investigation. Molecular subtyping showed that her isolate was indistinguishable from isolates associated with intentionally contaminated letters. No samples from her home or community yielded Bacillus anthracis, and she received no first-class letters from facilities known to have processed intentionally contaminated letters. Environmental sampling in the regional Connecticut postal facility yielded B. anthracis spores from 4 (31%) of 13 sorting machines. One extensively contaminated machine primarily processes bulk mail. A second machine that does final sorting of bulk mail for her zip code yielded B. anthracis on the column of bins for her carrier route. The evidence suggests she was exposed through a cross-contaminated bulk mail letter. Such cross-contamination of letters and postal facilities has implications for managing the response to future B. anthracis–contaminated mailings. |
topic |
Bacillus anthracis bioterrorism Connecticut inhalational anthrax postal facilities research |
url |
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/9/6/02-0728_article |
work_keys_str_mv |
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