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American Morning

Anthrax in America: New York Woman Dies

Aired October 31, 2001 - 11:40   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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We just mentioned that fatality in New York City. Inhalation anthrax has taken the life of a 61-year-old woman. Investigators, clearly, at this point, are a bit bewildered as to how she contracted it.

Eileen O'Connor is watching this.

Eileen, where do they begin when it comes to this case?

EILEEN O'CONNOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This has really blown apart their previous theories. They had thought that all of the cases were related to postal workers who perhaps had been exposed to anthrax from working with the mail that had been sent through their system, the letter to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, that letter to NBC anchor Tom Brokaw, and to the "New York Post." Now, they are finding it is infecting some people who were not postal workers, who were not at postal facilities that handled those letters. So they are looking at the possibility that they got it someplace else or they got it through their own mail at home that might have been somehow cross- contaminated.

It's very difficult, investigators say, to try to retrace the steps of this woman in New York. She was very sick when she came into the hospital and was unable to be interviewed.

Let's go back over the numbers of all of the cases that we do know. We do know, so far through this, there are 16 confirmed cases and four deaths from anthrax, the inhalation form. There are six confirmed inhalation cases. People infected are being treated. And then there are six cutaneous cases.

And there's a new case, in New Jersey, unrelated to really to one of the main postal facilities; it's a postal facility farther down the line. A worker there has a suspected case of the cutaneous form of anthrax.

What investigators are trying do is retrace the steps of the woman who died in New York City. She worked at an ear, nose, and throat hospital, in a storeroom. They are looking there. They are looking in her apartment, looking at the route she took to work.

But the working theory, still, even with this case, by the CDC, they told Paula Zahn this morning, an official from New York, Dr. Martin Blaser, saying they are still working under the theory they think this is due to contaminated mail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. MARTIN BLASER, NYU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: I think it is most likely it is still mail related and probably at her place of work. But the director of the CDC said they can't make any assumptions, and I think that's right. There needs to be a full investigation of where this case came from.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'CONNOR: The secretary of Health and Human Services admits they are looking at all of the possibilities, foreign and domestic. They haven't narrowed down the field of suspects. That is also impacting what the president is talking about, getting back no normal, to help the economy. That is becoming difficult unless investigators admit they can quickly wrap up the case and find who is responsible -- Bill.

HEMMER: What is perplexing about this woman's case is no one that we know of has tested positive who worked inside that hospital in Manhattan where she worked. And there have been no spores found inside that hospital either, correct?

O'CONNOR: Correct. Ten samples thus far sent out, ten came back negative. But there is some more sampling that they are doing.

HEMMER: It's a mystery. Eileen, thanks. Eileen O'Connor, in Washington.

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