FW: FBI ADMITS POSSIBLE TERRORIST LINK TO FLORIDA ANTHRAX CASES

["Craven, Jim" <jcraven@xxxxxxxxx>]

 FBI ADMITS POSSIBLE TERRORIST LINK TO FLORIDA ANTHRAX CASES


 10/8/01 11:47:15 AM P, BuzzFlash@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:

<< http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011008/ts/anthrax_case_35.html

 As reported in an article from the Chicago Tribune over the weekend about
the first anthrax death, "Most worrisome to Stevens' neighbors (the first
anthrax victim) was that their modest neighborhood is directly under the
flight path used by small planes taking off from Palm Beach County Park
Airport just a few blocks away.

 That's the airport from which Mohamed Atta--the suspected pilot of the
hijacked plane that slammed into the World Trade Center's north tower Sept.
11--rented a small plane on three occasions during the month of August as
part of his flight training."

 Yet, the "authorities" were saying at the time: "But Florida public health
officials said Stevens' case appears to have been an isolated event, and
there is no evidence that his illness was caused by an act of bioterrorism."

 Maybe they were just trying to keep us calm and collected.

 Here is today's latest story from AP, in which the FBI
 is admitting that terrorism might be involved:

 Monday October 8 1:25 PM ET

 FBI Probe Possible Terror Anthrax Link
 By AMANDA RIDDLE, Associated Press Writer

 BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) - The FBI is investigating the possibility that the
anthrax bacteria detected in two Florida men is a result of terrorism or
criminal action, The Associated Press has learned.

 The bacteria that killed a man last week has been detected in the nose of a

co-worker and on a computer keyboard in the newspaper office where both men
worked, health officials said Monday.

 ``The FBI has been unable to find a source or cause the anthrax, but this
kind of situation points to terrorism or criminal intent because it's so
rare
to have two people working in the same building who have inhaled anthrax
bacteria,'' a senior law enforcement official said, speaking on condition of

anonymity.

 The FBI has sealed off the office building and is combing it for clues. Any

workers in the building with flu-like symptoms will be tested for anthrax,
officials said.

 Bob Stevens, 63, a photo editor at the supermarket tabloid The Sun, died
Friday. He was the first person in 25 years in the United States to have
died
from the form of anthrax that is contracted by inhalation.

 Then, officials said Monday that a co-worker of Stevens, whose name was not

immediately released, had been discovered to have the bacteria in his nasal
passages, and it was also found on a keybord in the company office.

 He has not been diagnosed with the disease, and Barbara Reynolds, a
spokeswoman for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said

authorities may never know whether the second man actually had it because
antibiotics delivered may have killed it before it was detected.

 Relatively large anthrax spores that lodge in the upper respiratory tract
are less dangerous than smaller spores that get into the lungs.

 In Tallahassee, Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan confirmed to reporters that ``the FBI

is in control of the investigation.''

 All 300 employees who work in the building housing the Sun tabloid were
asked to come to a clinic so they could be tested for the bacteria. CDC
officials said nasal swabs would be taken, and antibiotics provided to
combat
the disease. Anthrax cannot be spread from person to person.

 White House spokesman Ari Fleischer would not rule out terrorism as a
possible explanation.

 ``There is no evidence to suggest anything yet and that's why the FBI is
investigating,'' Fleischer said. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy
Thompson had said last Thursday that the first incident was ``an isolated
case.''

 There is particular concern about the origin of the anthrax, which is not
normally found in wildlife or livestock in the state.

 Stevens lived about a mile from an air strip where suspected hijacker
Mohamed Atta rented planes, said Marian Smith, owner of the flight school,
said Monday.

 Several of the hijackers also had visited and asked questions at a
crop-dusting business about 40 miles from Stevens' home.

 The co-worker with the second case of anthrax was in stable condition
Monday
at an unidentified Miami-Dade County hospital, according to health
officials.

 A sample of anthrax was taken from a computer keyboard at the Sun, said Dr.

John Agwunobi, the state's secretary of health.

 ``We have someone who has been exposed to bacillus anthracis, which is the
spore which inhaled in a large enough dose could cause anthrax illness,''
Reynolds of the CDC said earlier. She said he is undergoing more tests.

 O'Conner and Reynolds said they did not know the symptoms displayed by the
man, where he was hospitalized or when the swab was taken.

 About 200 company employees stood outside the Palm Beach County Health
Department in Delray Beach on Monday, waiting to receive antibiotics and
undergo testing for the disease.

 ``I'm worried that I might have it and given it to somebody else,'' said
Dennis D'Antonio, a reporter. He said he was called at 2:30 a.m. and told to

report to the county health department.

 State health officials set up a toll-free number that company employees
could call to get information about health screenings.

 Gov. Jeb Bush said the FBI is taking the anthrax investigation ``very
seriously.''

 When asked if it appeared to be a terrorist attack, Bush said, ``it's hard
to tell right now.''

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

 Some of the other environmental samples taken last week are still being
tested, Reynolds said.

 ``The current risk of anthrax is extremely low,'' O'Conner said.

 It was unclear when the final tests would tell whether the second man has
full-blown anthrax. The bacterium normally has an incubation period of up to

seven days, but could take up to 60 days to develop, O'Conner said.

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

 ``We are cooperating with the department of health and all other
governmental agencies investigating this matter,'' he said Monday.
``Obviously, our first concern is the health and well-being of our employees

and their families.''

 Only 18 inhalation cases in the United States were documented in the 20th
century, the most recent in 1976 in California.

 Anthrax can be contracted from farm animals or soil, though the bacterium
is
not normally found among wildlife or livestock in the state. Stevens was
described as an avid outdoorsman and gardener.

 County medical examiners are looking over any unexplained deaths, but have
not found any cases connected to anthrax.

 -+

 Associated Press Writer Ron Fournier in Washington contributed to this
report

 http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/ap/20011008/hl/anthrax_case_35.html >>

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