Public health officials in the United States are becoming increasingly concerned by a second case of infection by anthrax. A British born man died from the infection last Friday and a second case was reported yesterday in the same office block in Florida.
While the disease occurs naturally, the chances of two such cases in such close proximity are said to be one in a billion. The FBI is leading the investigation.
A 73-year-old man was hospitalised after spores of the bacteria were discovered in his nostrils. A colleague of the man, a British born journalist, died from the disease last week. Hundreds of the affected men’s colleagues have been tested.
Following the 11 September terrorist attacks on the United States safeguards have been stepped up against biological attacks. The airborne dissemination of anthrax and other bacteria are of great concern.
The FBI was called into the investigation after it emerged that anthrax does not occur naturally in Florida. The Attorney General, John Ashcroft, said that he could not rule out the possibility of biological warfare.
However, he added that not enough information is available at present to say if the cases could be terrorist related. "We regard this as an investigation that could become a criminal investigation," he said.
It has emerged that Mohammed Atta, one of the hijackers involved in the terrorist attacks on New York, had spent some time in Florida. He expressed an interest in crop-dusting planes, which could be used to spread toxins.
