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CNN Sunday Morning

CDC Says Five More in Florida Test Positive for Anthrax

Aired October 14, 2001 - 11:15   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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: We want to bring you up to date on the latest on that anthrax cases in America. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says five more employees of the tabloid newspaper based in Florida have tested positive for anthrax exposure in preliminary tests.

CNN's John Zarrella is in Boca Raton, Florida this morning with the details on that. Good morning to you, John.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Marty. And that's exactly right. It's preliminary tests. And the Centers for Disease Control and federal investigators are stressing and emphasizing that it's a blood test that was given.

Now to put it all in context, 1,000 people, 300 workers of American Media, the building which is behind me there, and 700 people who had visited the building between August 1 and the time it was closed down by federal health officials, were given nasal swabs.

In addition to those nasal swabs, which we're still waiting for some results, a few that have not come in yet on the nasal swabs, but just a handful, in addition to that, the 300 people who worked here were given blood tests. And in those blood tests was the detection of antibodies in five people. Five people, antibodies were detected, which are germ fighters, which may be that those antibodies were present fighting anthrax. But it's not completely conclusive.

Health officials, federal and state health officials saying they still need to do more testing. That's where it stands at this point. Waiting for the results of the test, we do not have any idea whether we'll get any further update or news on where those tests stand today.

But one thing that's very critical and very key, Marty, that everyone's pointing out, is that these five people, if in fact they were exposed to anthrax, they are not sick. And there are only three cases, one Bob Stevens who died, and the two mailroom workers who have been confirmed to have been exposed to anthrax here.

So three cases, possibly five more -- Marty.

SAVIDGE: Well, that was my question to you, John. With these people testing positive or at least having the antibodies in their system, that does not mean though that they are sick or their body is trying to fight it off at this point? ZARRELLA: Exactly. And all of these people have been on the Cipro right along. Everybody who went in for the nasal swabs, all those people who visited, the thousand people were all given Cipro to begin to fight the infection, if in fact, they had it at all, as a precautionary measure.

So they're not sick. And the last woman that we spoke to, the last woman who was identified to have had exposure to anthrax, she's back at work already. The 35-year-old woman who worked in the mailroom there. And she's on the Cipro. So that is one thing that health officials continue to stress. They're getting the Cipro to these people in advance as precautionary measures. And they are not sick -- Marty.

SAVIDGE: All right, good news. Thank you, John Zarrella reporting to us from Boca Raton.

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