Anthrax infection in Connecticut
As was with the February 2006 case of the New York musician and drum maker who contracted anthrax from imported animal hides, a Danbury drum maker and his family contract anthrax from imported hides he used in his craft
Your son wants to play percussions? Peraps the piccolo is safer. Eight people, two from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and six from a company called Connecticut Tank Removal of Bridgeport, have begun the second round of testing on the Danbury house where two cases of anthrax were discovered. Yesterday’s test conducted by crews from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) found that the home where two members of a family contracted anthrax is contaminated. Officials expect to take twelve or so samples today, which will then be taken for testing. The house has been evacuated and no one will be allowed entry until the testing work is done. Greater Danbury New Times reports that after testing is done, officials will have to decontaminate both the house and the shed located on the property’s back yard. The state DEP, the EPA, and the state Department of Public Health will all come up with a formal decontamination plan once they get the results of today’s testing, which are expected tomorrow.
Officials seized about a dozen goat hides from the shed in the back of the home yesterday. The FBI and the U.S. Department of Agriculture will try and track whether other hids in the same lot were sold elsewhere in the United States. Yesterday, officials conducted twenty-seven tests on material found in the home and the barn in the backyard of the property yesterday. The results found five positive samples in the barn itself and one positive result on the back door that leads to the barn, said Rachael Sunny, a DEP spokeswoman. The testing is being handled by the state Department of Environmental Protection and the federal Environmental Protection Agency, according to Dr. James Hadler, chief epidemiologist with the state Department of Public Health.
African drummer and drum-maker Ase-AmenRa Kariamu lives in the contaminated house with his family. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) points out that untreated animal hides used in drum making are a source of anthrax infection. One of the more celebrated cases occurred in February last year: On 16 February a performing musician and dancer traveled from New York City to northern Pennsylvania for a performance with his dance troupe. He collapsed later that evening with rigors and was admitted to a local hospital, where he reported a three-day history of shortness of breath, dry cough, and malaise. A chest radiograph revealed bilateral infiltrates and pleural effusions. The next day the patient was transferred to a tertiary care center because of worsening respiratory status. All four blood culture bottles grew gram-positive rods. Isolates were sent to the PDOH laboratory and confirmed on 21 February as Bacillus anthracis by polymerase chain reaction and susceptibility to lysis by gamma phage.
The city of Danbury has posted information on its Web site for residents curious or concerned about the anthrax.
