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CNN Saturday Morning News

Funeral for Connecticut Anthrax Victim Begins

Aired November 24, 2001 - 11:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We begin our live coverage in Connecticut, where funeral services are being held this hour for the woman who died of anthrax, and investigators are probing for more anthrax cases.

CNN's Brian Palmer joins us now from the town of Oxford.

Hello again, Brian.

BRIAN PALMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon -- or good morning, I'm sorry. Guests have started to arrive. Family and friends have arrived at the Emmanuel Lutheran Church, which is just over our shoulder, Kyra. They've asked that the press not try and enter. They're keeping this a very private ceremony.

Now as this ceremony -- as this funeral goes on, investigators continue to canvass public and private spaces that the 94-year-old widow may have frequented. They're still trying to detect the source of the anthrax that killed her.

Yesterday investigators for the Centers for Disease Control took swab samples from the New Look Hair Salon, which is where the 94-year- old widow went every Saturday to have her hair done. They took samples from the town hall. CDC investigators not wearing masks themselves, so they're actually trying to detect trace residue of anthrax. They apparently don't have any great fear that there are large sources of anthrax still out there.

The public health officials and the investigators themselves took their case to the public last night at a town meeting, trying to explain to the residents of Oxford and towns in the surrounding area exactly what they're doing and exactly what the threat from anthrax is -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Brian Palmer live in Oxford, Connecticut, thank you very much.

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