杏吧原创

THE death of a fifth anthrax victim in the US raises the ominous possibility
that spores have travelled widely on mail contaminated by the letters sent to
Washington DC and New York.

Ottilie Lundgren died last week from the inhalation form of the disease. She
was 94 years old, lived alone in a small town in Connecticut and rarely left the
house. The lack of any obvious connection between Lundgren and other victims has
worried officials. 鈥淭here is a mystery to this case,鈥� admitted Health Secretary
Tommy Thompson.

The relatives who brought in her mail have been put on antibiotics, as have
local postal staff, but none has so far reported anthrax symptoms. Local post
offices that previously tested negative for spores are being re-examined.

One possible source is post from either of two Connecticut senators in whose
Washington offices traces of anthrax have been found. But aides to the senators
say there is no record of mail being sent to Lundgren.

That raises the spectre of anthrax spores spreading far more widely than the
authorities suspected. Since investigators are checking only places with a known
connection to the attacks, such spores are likely to remain undetected unless
they are inhaled by a susceptible person.

The elderly seem most at risk. All but one of the inhalation cases have been
in people over fifty. Asked if older people should be cautious about their mail,
Tony Fauci, head of the National Institutes of Health, said, 鈥淚f the source
turns out to be an [indirectly] contaminated letter, that would be something
you鈥檇 have to reconsider.鈥�