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CNN Live At Daybreak

Third Florida Employee Exposed to Anthrax

Aired October 11, 2001 - 09:03   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: A third employee at a tabloid newspaper office in Florida has been exposed to anthrax, and federal agents have now launched a criminal investigation of the anthrax cases.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is in Boca Raton this morning -- Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Paula, behind me is the American Media building, where FBI crews and health investigators are back at work this morning. The building has been closed, will be closed for the next 30 days as crews here continue their work.

Last night FBI officials and investigators here revealed that a 35-year-old woman who worked in the building had -- was found with nasal -- anthrax spores in her nasal passages. And she's being treated for that exposure to the anthrax.

We're not sure much more information about here identity or anything else about her -- where she worked in the building in relation to Robert Stevens, who passed away last week because of the anthrax disease, or the second gentlemen, Ernesto Blanco, who is being treated in a Miami-area hospital for anthrax.

But crews here are back at work, and the FBI is saying that this is a criminal investigation now. And a lot of what they're doing -- they're looking for the who, how and why anthrax entered this building. They're very confident now it seems at this point that the anthrax was presented deliberately inside of this building. But right now, a lot of what they're doing is also trying to calm public fear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this time, the FBI and the CDC have thus far determined that the Florida anthrax contamination is limited to the America Media building in Boca Raton. Based on the preliminary testing by the CDC, there is no indication at this time that this action -- or this strain of anthrax, I should say, was produced or caused by a terrorist group or individuals related to the incidents September 11, 2001.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: When pressed a little bit further, the officials would also say that they would not rule out that possibility. They say it kind of points to the fact that there is not a whole lot of information for them at this point. But it's something that they're clearly looking into. And, of course, that's probably standard police work at this point.

One other bit of information as the -- this process -- and identifying this strain of anthrax is a very convoluted process, a lot of high-tech medical tests that are being conducted across the country. There's a massive team of investigators that have been flown into the south Florida to investigate this issue.

Sources tell CNN that some of the preliminary tests reveal that the anthrax strain found here is called the Ames strain, that was discovered by researchers in the 1950s in Iowa. This is significant because this Ames strain was -- has been widely distributed over the years for researchers researching the effects of anthrax.

And what this means for investigators is because this was so widely distributed that it also cast a very large net for the investigation. That is to mean that if it were another strain of anthrax, it might be able to pinpoint a little more specifically where investigators, perhaps, should be leading to.

We've been told by investigators that a lot of these lab tests will provide crucial evidence in this criminal investigation. So if this does turn out to be the case, it is a very wide net that investigators will be looking into in the next couple of weeks -- Paula.

ZAHN: And Ed, I know tests are being done on whether this anthrax was organically grown or whether it was man-made. I don't know whether you caught my interview with Attorney General John Ashcroft, but I wanted to quote what he said when I posed that question. He said, quote: "It is very difficult to think that even an organic, naturally occurring presence in nature would result in a concentration that affected or provided a basis for exposure to three people in a specific building in that setting. And that's the reason we've launched this kind of investigation."

The other thing...

(CROSSTALK)

LAVANDERA: ... in a lot of ways and...

ZAHN: Go ahead, Ed.

LAVANDERA: I'm sorry.

ZAHN: Yes.

LAVANDERA: Well, I was saying I think they're using that as a lot of ways to help convince people that it is just isolated in this American Media building. And that's one of the ideas that they're using to help calm that public fear.

ZAHN: I also asked him about "The Miami Herald" report this morning saying that two of the suspected hijackers actually had subscriptions to publications published in that building behind you. And he said the FBI can't confirm that; they're certainly looking into that. Any update on that information?

LAVANDERA: Well, we've talked to several people about it. I've spoken with one of the reporters from "The National Inquirer." That story's been floating around here for a couple of days. We also asked the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office last night at the press conference. And as Attorney General Ashcroft told you, that that is something that they're not revealing at that point if that is, indeed, the case.

ZAHN: All right, Ed Lavandera thanks so much. See you a little bit later on this morning.

LAVANDERA: Sure.

ZAHN: Let's go back to Bill, who has even more on the anthrax story right now -- Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Paula, thank you. Good morning, again.

That anthrax episode in Florida now the subject of a criminal investigation, as Ed was referring to. Let's talk more about it.

Our medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta here with us this morning.

Good morning to you.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

HEMMER: What is interesting about this is that it actually can be traced back to its origins, almost like it has a fingerprint. Fair to say?

GUPTA: That's right. I mean, the testing of these strains is pretty sophisticated stuff. We're talking about DNA testing here. They can actually find a pretty good specificity from where it came, and maybe even the first time it was actually identified and recorded.

There's only a few places in the country that can do this, Bill. Northern Arizona University, we've certainly heard a lot about; Los Alamos; and then there are some facilities within the FBI and the CDC. Only a few places that can do it.

HEMMER: We're talking, according to many reports, that it's traced back to Iowa 50 years ago. Whether it's true or not, you have research that now indicates, regardless of whether it came from Iowa originally, it could have perhaps originated overseas in another country as well.

GUPTA: Right. And I think these terms and these -- all these terms "manufactured," "altered," all that sort of stuff needs to be clarified. What we're talking about -- and I think Secretary Ashcroft was correct in what he said -- but what we're talking about is if you actually take the original spores that may have originated from Iowa and then, quote, unquote, "weaponize" them: dry them out, ground them, turn them into possible weapons, that doesn't mean they no longer came from Iowa. Where that weaponizing process actually took place really could have been anywhere in the world.

What we talk about when we're altering the spores, that's a very different process. That means actually altering the DNA of the spores. That essentially gives it a new birthplace. So while in that situation, the spores may have come from Iowa, they could have been altered in a different location. If those spores are then registered catalog we've been talking about, then essentially it would have come from somewhere else.

So, sort of a distinction in terms, an important one though.

HEMMER: Much of a surprise that another person has been found to be exposed, this 35-year-old woman?

GUPTA: I don't find that surprising. I think a lot of the doctors don't find that particularly surprising. We know that anthrax did exist in that area.

It is something that can disperse amongst a few people, and now it's three. With the three is still not a large number of people, considering what people are certainly scared of with regards to anthrax. Once it gets out in the air like that, we may see some more people who are exposed.

Again, I should point out, only one person's infected. That person's diagnosis of infection was eight days ago, and the other people, if they were going to develop symptoms, probably would have by now.

So, Bill, a little bit of good news in all that.

HEMMER: Quickly, on the 1,000 people who have been tested so far, how long will it take them before they know whether they test positive or negative?

GUPTA: Typically the nasal swab is only a couple-of-day test. What I've been hearing from the health officials down there is they are inundated right now with tests, so their usual systems are taking a little bit longer; but usually it's a few days.

HEMMER: Got it; we'll watch. And again, don't want to fuel the flames here...

GUPTA: That's right.

HEMMER: ... but we do want to get the information out. Sanjay, thank you.

GUPTA: Thank you.

HEMMER: Talk to you a bit later today.

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