Some officials expressed frustration yesterday over the lack of information and patterns in the investigation into the recent anthrax incidents, while the fourth victim of inhalation anthrax died in New York City (see GSN, Oct. 31).

The recent anthrax incidents are something totally new for scientists and investigators, Surgeon General David Satcher said yesterday.  “We’re used to dealing with infectious diseases, but we don’t have a lot of experience dealing with terrorists, Satcher said.  “We don’t know what the attacker is doing or what the attacker is going to do next in terms of strategy” (CNN.com, Nov. 1).

What’s needed are “scientifically trained people who are able to … come up with new hypotheses” to explain why certain people contract anthrax and others do not, said former U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Bill Roper, highlighting the need for more epidemiologists.  The recent New York City case, examined by epidemiologists, could provide clues into the recent anthrax incidents, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. “The hospital worker who died doesn’t fit [known patterns] and may well be an opening wedge” for a better understanding of the problem, Roper said.

A suspicious second case of skin anthrax at the same hospital where yesterday’s victim had worked could also provide clues.  “These two particular cases don’t meet an exposure scenario consistent with what we’ve seen before, so we’ve got to be more open-minded,” said CDC Director Jeffrey Koplan.  The new and seemingly different cases would “throw you off,” said Greg Evans, director of the Center of the Study of Bioterrorism and Emerging Infections at the St. Louis University School of Public Health.  “You always have to ask, ‘Is this the beginning of another pattern, or was this an isolated case?’”

Not only will investigators and epidemiologists try to learn more about the New York victim’s movements before she became ill, but will also look into ‘host-risk factors,” such as smoking or a weakened immune system, according to the Inquirer.  All of those who died from inhalation anthrax were over 47, and being older means a person has a diminished immune system, Koplan said.  Smoking weakens the lungs and allows infections, such as anthrax, to occur, said epidemiologist Howard Frumkin.  “If the anthrax spores glob onto the smoke, then the smoke can basically act as a carrier, and brings other materials into the lungs and deposits them deep down,” Frumkin said (Seth Borenstein, Philadelphia Inquirer, Nov. 1).      

Research Labs Subpoenaed

Federal officials have issued 60 subpoenas for records from research facilities that work with anthrax to determine whether the spores used in the recent incidents were taken from a lab, according to sources.  There is no evidence thefts have occurred, said sources, but the subpoenas were issued as a precaution.  “We were fishing,” said a law enforcement official.  “But we need to understand who could have access to the bacteria.  We wanted to know everyone who had entered a lab, been interested in anthrax research, and background them.”

The subpoenas were to obtain laboratory visitors logs and shipping documents from universities, research institutes and CDC-licensed companies.  “It was a friendly subpoena,” said Richard Hidalgo, assistant to the dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine at Louisiana State University.  “I think they are just looking for any missing shipments, trying to cover all the bases.”

“We’re chasing ghosts,” a source said.  “Issuing those subpoenas was a smart thing to do to try to get a handle on where the anthrax is and who has access to it.  So far, we have nothing to go on” (Kidwell/Garcia, Miami Herald, Nov. 1).

A decades-old sample of anthrax at Iowa State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine was destroyed two weeks ago with a state trooper standing guard, according to the Associated Press.  The process, which took about two weeks, used steam pressure to destroy the bacteria (Associated Press, Nov. 1).

Witches, bin Laden, or Angry White Males?

Media organizations received threatening letters before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that were similar to recent anthrax-tainted letters sent to targets, such as NBC News, according to the New York Post.  The prior letters were mailed from Indianapolis, Indiana, according to the Post. They were addressed in block writing similar to that on anthrax-tainted letters mailed to NBC News, the New York Post and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), the Post reported.  Each line clearly sloped downward to the right and the handwriting resembled that on the tainted letters.

The similarities between the pre-Sept. 11 letters and the recent tainted letters could mean the anthrax incidents were the result of a domestic source rather than a foreign terrorist such as Osama bin Laden.  A number of groups were being investigated, according to the Post, including members of a pagan cult (Murray Weiss, New York Post, Nov. 1).

There are still no clear leads as to who is responsible, law enforcement officials said.  Possibilities range from bin Laden to domestic terror groups to even a lone individual.  “Everything is still on the table,” said a senior law enforcement official.  “We need a break, we need to get lucky.”

Signs point to either bin Laden’s al-Qaeda organization, domestic sympathizers, or to an angry white male with a microbiology degree and engineering skills, an official said (ABC News.com/Yahoo.com, Oct. 31).

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