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American Morning
Investigators Baffled in Connecticut Anthrax Case
Aired November 23, 2001 - 07:05 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to the anthrax investigation here stateside. The case of the 94-year-old Connecticut woman who died Wednesday of inhalation anthrax has investigators baffled, even as they worked Thanksgiving Day seeking clues.
Our Michael Okwu has been tracking developments for the last couple of days there and he joins us now live -- hello, Michael.
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon.
It is weird, that's what Governor John Rowland says about anthrax here in Connecticut. This morning there are still so many questions but very few answers about the death of 94-year-old Ottilie Lundgren. Funeral services are expected to be held tomorrow.
Now, police blocked off access to Lundgren's remote house here in a wooded section of Oxford, Connecticut as investigators conducted a grid search, or an inch by inch inspection of her house. Results of those tests there taken are expected possibly within the next 24 hours.
But the results of an autopsy are not yet known or they have not yet been made public. Examiners are taking special interest in Lundgren's air passages, trying to determine just how much anthrax she was exposed to.
Investigators believe that she may have been the victim of cross- contamination in the mail. Two postal facilities that feed her particular neighborhood in Wallingford, Connecticut and in Seymour, Connecticut have been tested and those results are expected at some point today, Leon. And in the meantime, postal officials have given some 1,300 postal workers the option of taking a 10 day course of Cipro as a precaution and we are told that most of those 1,300 have taken up the offer, again, as a precaution -- Leon.
HARRIS: That's not much of a surprise. I'm sure if they talked to any of their colleagues, they would probably be recommended to do so.
Thanks very much, Michael.
Michael Okwu reporting live for us this morning from Oxford, Connecticut. Now, one of the people who treated Ottilie Lundgren before she died was Dr. Howard Quentzel. He is the chief of infectious diseases at Griffin Hospital in Derby, Connecticut. And he joins us now. He is near Lundgren's Oxford home, where the investigators have been contradicting this exhaustive search of the premises. And we thank you very much for your time this morning, doctor.
Is this, was this the first case of anthrax that you've actually handled?
DR. HOWARD QUENTZEL, GRIFFIN HOSPITAL: Yes, it is. Yes.
HARRIS: So I'm sure that a lot of this caught you by surprise.
QUENTZEL: It certainly has, although we've been following very closely the previous cases that have been occurring in the last six weeks and it certainly has made us more aware of this.
HARRIS: Yes. So were you the one who actually made the diagnosis of anthrax in this case?
QUENTZEL: Well, I think there were a number of us that were involved with the case and as the case unfolded and the results came in, it became very clear that this was something we had to be concerned about.
HARRIS: Yes. Well, now that you've been through this, what are your thoughts this morning, after all this has happened and it's run its course now? Any extra concerns there at the hospital now?
QUENTZEL: I'm sorry?
HARRIS: Any special concerns right now at the hospital after this has run its course?
QUENTZEL: Well, we're obviously concerned about educating all the physicians in the community about this and being very vigilant about other cases that could be occurring. Obviously people are going to be very concerned about any kind of symptoms that occur and our efforts are to reassure people and to obviously be very vigilant for other cases.
HARRIS: Yes. Are people there getting the message, because the thing that occurred to us as we watched this case unfold over the weekend is if it did happen like this, out of the clear blue, there have got to be a number of people there who are, who've got to be concerned that perhaps if this was a case where it wasn't sent through the mail, it was transmitted by some other means, that perhaps there are other people there in that community that may have been exposed.
QUENTZEL: All right, well, as best as we know, this is -- there is no obvious explanation for this. The most likely explanation does seem to be the mail. It seems at this time to be an isolated case, but we obviously don't know enough about that.
HARRIS: Yes. Do you know anything more about the testing being done at that postal facility?
QUENTZEL: No. I'M not really aware of that and I know that there's an intensive investigation going on.
HARRIS: Yes. Well, do you have, does your hospital have another role in this investigation?
QUENTZEL: Well, I think mostly the state and the CDC have taken over with the investigation. We're certainly very happy and willing to help if that's necessary.
HARRIS: Yes. This entire process has been a learning process for all of us and the doctors, investigators and those of us in the media. Has there been anything in this particular case that you think adds to the body of knowledge that we've accumulated in the last two months?
QUENTZEL: Well, I'm sorry. Could you just, could you repeat that?
HARRIS: Sure. Is there anything that you think that in the process of learning more and more about this disease and this bacteria and exactly how it is transmitted and how it actually takes effect in people's bodies, is there anything that we've learned from this case that's new?
QUENTZEL: Oh, I see. Well, I think the major difference between this case and the previous cases has been the lack of any obvious risk factor. That's, this and the case in New York. The previous cases were associated with the media or the postal service directly. So this has really changed our whole concept of this disease and we are really have to, we have to realize that this could happen anywhere and in any area.
HARRIS: That's very sobering.
Dr. Howard Quentzel, we thank you very much for your time. Good luck to you.
QUENTZEL: Thank you very much.
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