Anthrax case reported in New York
NBC employee tests positive after handling ‘suspicious mail’
NBC, MSNBC AND NEWS SERVICES
NEW YORK, Oct. 12 — An NBC News employee has tested positive for anthrax after handling “suspicious mail” that was sent to NBC’s New York headquarters, network officials said Friday. The case of “cutaneous anthrax” — which is contracted through the skin rather than by breathing — is being investigated by the FBI and federal and local health officials, the network said.
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‘We have no reason to believe that this particular incident has spread beyond this individual employee.’
— NBC MEMO
WORD OF THE FOURTH recent case of anthrax in the United States came in a memo from top NBC executives Robert Wright and Andrew Lack and said the employee was being treated with antibiotics and was expected to make a full recovery.
“We have no reason to believe that this particular incident has spread beyond this individual employee,” the memo said.
The memo indicated that tests were conducted at NBC’s headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Center in recent days after “suspicious mail was received.”
It said that the New York City Department of Health, the federal Centers for Disease Control and the FBI were contacted and the mail was tested.
“All these tests came back negative. However, this morning, a later test on the employee came back positive for traces of cutaneous anthrax,” the memo said.
New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was expected to discuss the case at a news conference later Friday.
FIRST CASE OUTSIDE FLORIDA
The anthrax case was the first recent one reported outside Florida, where investigators have been attempting to identify the source of the deadly bacteria that has been detected in three workers at a company that publishes tabloid newspapers. One of the employees died of the disease.
October 11 — Stephanie Dailey, the third person to test positive for anthrax exposure at American Media in Boca Raton, Fla., speaks during a press conference.
The FBI reported Thursday that investigators have found traces of anthrax in the mailroom of the company’s office. As theories swirled about the origin of the anthrax, officials said there was no evidence it was stolen from a laboratory.
Federal officials began a criminal investigation into the source of anthrax contamination at the Boca Raton headquarters of American Media after a third person — 36-year-old Stephanie Dailey — tested positive for exposure Wednesday night.
Dailey, who worked in the mailroom of the tabloid The Sun with Ernesto Blanco, 73, who also had anthrax spores in his nasal passages, returned to work in temporary offices Thursday.
“I just want to say I’m fine,” she told a crowd of reporters from her front yard in nearby Boynton Beach.
She is taking antibiotics and has shown no symptoms of anthrax disease. Blanco has been in good condition in the hospital receiving antibiotics since Monday. Dailey refused to discuss how she may have come into contact with the bacteria, citing the ongoing investigation. She is an office services associate whose duties include receiving packages and delivering the mail. |
