מתוך medicontext.co.il

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – An employee at NBC's New York headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Center has been diagnosed with cutaneous anthrax, possibly after handling "suspicious mail," according to NBC sources.

"There is no real threat of danger," Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said Friday at a press conference detailing the event. "People should not overreact," he added.

Unlike inhaled or ingested anthrax, which has a fatality rate of close to 95%, cutaneous anthrax is fatal in only about 1% of cases if treated early.

Giuliani said that the female employee, who was not identified, may have been exposed on September 25 and started receiving treatment with the antibiotic Cipro on October 1. "The CDC determined from biopsy that she had cutaneous anthrax." If there were other infections related to the exposure, they would probably have happened by now, he noted.

NBC contacted the FBI, the CIA and the New York Department of Health after becoming concerned about "suspicious mail" that the company had received.

The New York City Department of Health will conduct tests in various areas of Rockefeller Center as a precaution, Giuliani said. He added that all of the employees who could have possibly been exposed are in the process of being tested. These employees may be given the antibiotic Cipro as a preventive measure.

In a separate incident, Giuliani confirmed that staff at the New York Times office here "got a letter earlier today. The letter contained a powdery substance that's being tested now." Results should be available soon, he said.

The NBC incident is the fourth case of anthrax that has been reported since the September 11th terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in Manhattan. The other anthrax cases involved three employees who worked at American Media, Inc., in Boca Raton, Florida.

The FBI has launched a criminal investigation to find the source of this newest case of anthrax, Attorney General John Ashcroft said on Friday.

"The Federal Bureau of Investigation has launched a separate criminal investigation to find out the source of the anthrax," he said right after the discovery of a case of cutaneous anthrax contracted by the NBC News employee.

"The bureau is working closely with the Centers for Disease Control, the New York City health department and with postal inspectors," he told a news conference held in Washington with Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson.

"At this time the source of the anthrax is being investigated and has not yet been determined," said Ashcroft, the nation's top law enforcement official.

Ashcroft, who has urged the police and public to be on a heightened state of alert since the US military strikes in Afghanistan, said the FBI was investigating a piece of mail from September 25 that may have transmitted the anthrax.

He said the government had no evidence linking the New York anthrax case with three other anthrax cases in Florida at the headquarters of American Media Inc., which publishes tabloid newspapers.

Thompson said, "We are responding very aggressively to all these individual cases, which has no connection whatsoever at this point in time to any terrorist attack."

Similarly, at a New York City news conference, Assistant FBI Director Barry Mawn said he saw no connection between the September 11th attacks and the infected employee at NBC headquarters.

Ashcroft said of the latest case, "We will continue to work closely with the other agencies to take a series of precautions. The area will be sealed; it will be tested; the employees will be tested; they will be given antibiotics. We are taking these actions out of an abundance of caution to give maximum protection to individuals who may have been exposed to anthrax," he said.

Ashcroft pointed out that anthrax is not contagious and is "imminently treatable" if detected early. He urged anyone who receives suspicious mail to call the local police. "Do not open it, do not shake it, leave the area, and call local law enforcement," he said.