Embassy alert to counter killer bug

By ALAN PERROTT AND AGENCIES

The United States Embassy in Wellington is stocking up on anthrax medication following a third confirmed case in Florida and a worldwide alert from the US State Department.

All three cases of anthrax have been employees working at the offices of American Media in Boca Raton, Florida.

The infections are now the subject of a criminal investigation.

The latest case is a 35-year-old woman who was taken to hospital yesterday after a nasal swab showed she had contracted the deadly disease.

The State Department has now instructed American diplomatic missions worldwide to stock enough of the anti-anthrax antibiotic ciprofloxacin to cover all staff as well as any contractors working within the facilities.

On Saturday, Robert Stevens, 63, a photo editor for the Sun tabloid, became the first confirmed death from anthrax in the US since 1976.

The next day, Ernesto Blanco, 73, a mailroom employee working in the same building, was taken to hospital after a positive nasal swab.

Anthrax spores were also found on a computer keyboard in the American Media building.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said there was no evidence of any imminent biological threat to US missions overseas but the order was a precaution while the FBI investigated the outbreak.

He said the move was an expansion of a programme begun in 1998 to protect embassies in potentially dangerous locations.

All US troops are also routinely vaccinated.

The Wellington embassy has confirmed that it will follow the instruction immediately.

Florida health officials are still trying to determine whether the anthrax strain is natural or manufactured, a fact that may indicate whether the infection is a criminal act, but biological experts believe the cases suggest something other than natural exposure.

Preliminary testing at federal laboratories has found a possible match to a strain manufactured in an Iowa lab 50 years ago, but a definitive match could take several days.

Florida officials appealed for calm.

They said there was no public health risk and asked people to be "alert but smart" in reporting suspicious substances.

Anthrax is a bacterial disease generally confined to sheep, cattle, horses, goats and pigs and spread by hardy spores.

Spores can enter the body through cuts and abrasions, inhalation or the consumption of infected food.

Death usually occurs within seven days.

Anthrax is considered a useful weapon because, unlike smallpox and the plague, it is not directly contagious, so there is little risk of its spreading out of control and possibly infecting whoever released it.

Anthrax was freely traded within the United States until restrictions were established in 1997, but there are still hundreds of labs around the world that can cultivate the spores.

According to Jane's International Security News, Iraq, Syria and Egypt hold stocks of anthrax culture.

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Emergency telephone numbers:

United Airlines: 0168 1800 932 8555

American Airlines: 0168 1800 245 0999

NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade: 0800 872 111

US Embassy in Wellington (recorded info): 04 472 2068