DAY TWENTY FOUR:Oct. 4
HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson announced in a White House press briefing yesterday that, "The Centers for Disease Control has just confirmed the diagnosis of anthrax in a patient in a Florida hospital. Based on what we know at this point, it appears that it's an isolated case. I want to make sure that everybody understands that anthrax is not contagious and is not communicable, which means it is not spread from person to person."
Well, so much for boredom. I always detest being home sick not so much because of the illness, but the excruciating boredom. Reading is impossible after a while, so one gravitates to the television only to discover that all daytime programming assumes a viewer IQ somewhere below 70. Sleep is, of course, advisable when ailing, and would have been sought except for the White House briefing this afternoon.
What are we here in New York to make of the case of a 63-year-old British-born man, said to be a tabloid reporter for either the National Enquirer or Sun, who has mysteriously contracted --- indeed, INHALED --- anthrax in Lantana, Florida? There are no sheep or goats in Lantana, to wooleries, no natual sources of anthrax spores.
The last known case of inhalation anthrax in the United States occurred in 1974. Though such cases are very rare, Thompson noted, "at this point in time, it's an isolated case. And there is no other indications anybody else has got anthrax."
In testimony before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Wednesday Thompson came under sharp criticism from both sides of the aisle for lack of preparedness in the event of a bioterrorism attack. Yesterday Thompson was at pains to point out that, "Our public health reporting system worked in a very timely fashion, as I indicated in my testimony yesterday. Florida public health officials promptly notified their state Health Department, who then notified the Centers for Disease Control and the FBI. And officials are aggressively investigating the individual's schedule for the last few weeks and the source of the infection. I want everybody to understand that sporadic cases of anthrax do occur in the United States."
Sporaic, indeed: once very 27 years, it seems.
It is doubtul that in the curent national climate anybody can avoid entertaining the possibility this is a bioterrorist case, though why anybody would wage an assault on Lantana is beyond me. Dozens of alternative explanations surface, but investigators will no doubt have more complete information for us soon. I can't help wondering what a supermarket tabloid writer might have been doing messing about with anthrax spores.
My brother and his wife returned from a series of national security meetings in Germany, and report that country is 100% behind the American anti-terrorism initiative, whatever it may be. My amie, Dr. Simonet of Paris, called with news that even the French feel concerned about America's plight, though terrorism is old hat to Parisians, or so they would have us believe. Even in Paris, however, the escalation in police presence and bomb searches of late has proven unnerving, amid rumors that Paris is "the next target".
Paula, who cleans apartments in my building, failed to show up last week. She arrived today, with large rings under her eyes. I had suspected that her absence last week was related to a missing church member, last seen inside the World Trade Center. Today she recounted that of 59 church members in her all-Caribbean congregation three perished in the World Trade Center. She has been mourning and praying every night for three weeks. "We all want to go home," Paula said. "Every one of us wants so much to go home."
"Does your family want you to go back to Jamaica," I asked.
"Oh yes, so very much! They call every day, 'Please come home,' they say. But I cannot go. I cannot."
There is no need to ask why she must stay: it's money, of course.
"It must be good to have the support and love of your church around you," I suggested.
"Oh yes, so much," Paula said, choking up. I let it go at that.
Be well. Be safe. Stand defiant.
Laurie Garrett
