Thread: Anthrax vaccine, antibiotics offered to 80 in N.H.

Anthrax vaccine, antibiotics offered to 80 in N.H.

By HOLLY RAMER, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, December 29, 2009 at 1:52 p.m.

CONCORD, N.H.— Antibiotics and vaccines are being offered to about 80 people in New Hampshire as authorities investigate the nation's first known case of gastrointestinal anthrax.

Officials still don't know how the woman contracted the disease but are focusing on a drum circle gathering she attended last month. She was diagnosed Saturday.

Officials have shut down the United Campus Ministry center in Durham, where anthrax spores have been found on two drums and an electrical outlet. They said Tuesday that vaccines and antibiotics will be available to people who attended the event or live or work in the building.

Dr. Elizabeth Talbot, an adviser to the state's public health division, says one theory is that the spores became airborne through vigorous drum playing, and the woman swallowed them.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009 ... -80-in-nh/

I know that cipro is one of the only things prescribed to fight anthrax. However, it is a prescription and if and when the time comes, you will probably not get it. I did some research on natural ways to combat this and on several sites they have suggested colloidal silver. I am going to invest in this stuff and hopefully have a chance to save my family from a possible attack. You know that saying "born with a silver spoon in his mouth? It is because when there was plague in France, the rich people gave their children silver spoons to suck on and most were saved from the plauge. I guess it was widely used before synthetic antibiotics.

The last time the government told us a story like this about initial cases of anthrax they were lying through their teeth and doing their best to cover up the Anthrax bio terror attacks of 2001.

Anyone remember how they lied and lied to us for days on end?

I was one of the first people in America to bust the government out on that one.

W

Gastrointestinal Anthrax Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatments

Gastrointestinal Anthrax information including symptoms, diagnosis, misdiagnosis, treatment, causes, patient stories, videos, forums, prevention, ...

http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/g/gastroi ... /intro.htm

Gastrointestinal Anthrax

Gastrointestinal anthrax is a disease caused by eating meat contaminated with anthrax bacteria or their spores.

http://anthrax.emedtv.com/gastrointesti ... thrax.html

What drugs are FDA-approved for treatment of anthrax?

Ciprofloxacin, doxycycline and penicillin are FDA-approved for the treatment of anthrax in adults and children.

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/anthrax/faq/

Questions and Answers About Anthrax

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is anthrax?
Anthrax is an acute infectious disease caused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Anthrax most commonly occurs in wild and domestic mammalian species (cattle, sheep, goats, camels, antelopes, and other herbivores), but it can also occur in humans when they are exposed to infected animals or to tissue from infected animals or when anthrax spores are used as a bioterrorist weapon.

Transmission
How is anthrax transmitted?
Anthrax is not known to spread from one person to another person. B. anthracis spores can live in the soil for many years, and humans can become infected with anthrax by handling products from infected animals or by inhaling anthrax spores from contaminated animal products. Anthrax can also be spread by eating undercooked meat from infected animals. It is rare to find infected animals in the United States. Anthrax spores can be used as a bioterrorist weapon, as was the case in 2001, when Bacillus anthracis spores had been intentionally distributed through the postal system, causing 22 cases of anthrax, including 5 deaths.

What are the types of anthrax infection?
Anthrax infection can occur in three forms: cutaneous (skin), inhalation, and gastrointestinal.

•Cutaneous: Most (about 95%) anthrax infections occur when the bacterium enters a cut or abrasion on the skin, such as when handling contaminated wool, hides, leather or hair products (especially goat hair) of infected animals. Skin infection begins as a raised itchy bump that resembles an insect bite but within 1-2 days develops into a vesicle and then a painless ulcer, usually 1-3 cm in diameter, with a characteristic black necrotic (dying) area in the center. Lymph glands in the adjacent area may swell. About 20% of untreated cases of cutaneous anthrax will result in death. Deaths are rare with appropriate antimicrobial therapy.

•Inhalation: Initial symptoms may resemble a common cold – sore throat, mild fever, muscle aches and malaise. After several days, the symptoms may progress to severe breathing problems and shock. Inhalation anthrax is usually fatal.

•Gastrointestinal: The intestinal disease form of anthrax may follow the consumption of contaminated meat and is characterized by an acute inflammation of the intestinal tract. Initial signs of nausea, loss of appetite, vomiting, fever are followed by abdominal pain, vomiting of blood, and severe diarrhea. Intestinal anthrax results in death in 25% to 60% of cases.

What are the case fatality rates for the various forms of anthrax?
Early treatment of cutaneous anthrax is usually curative, and early treatment of all forms is important for recovery. Patients with cutaneous anthrax have reported case fatality rates of 20% without antibiotic treatment and less than 1% with it. Although case-fatality estimates for inhalation anthrax are based on incomplete information, the rate is extremely high, approximately 75%, even with all possible supportive care including appropriate antibiotics. Estimates of the impact of the delay in postexposure prophylaxis or treatment on survival are not known. For gastrointestinal anthrax, the case-fatality rate is estimated to be 25%-60% and the effect of early antibiotic treatment on that case-fatality rate is not defined.

For more information, see the Signs and Symptoms Q & A.

Symptoms
What are the symptoms for anthrax?
These symptoms can occur within 7 days of infection:

•Fever (temperature greater than 100 degrees F). The fever may be accompanied by chills or night sweats.
•Flu-like symptoms.
•Cough, usually a non-productive cough, chest discomfort, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle aches
•Sore throat, followed by difficulty swallowing, enlarged lymph nodes, headache, nausea, loss of appetite, abdominal distress, vomiting, or diarrhea
•A sore, especially on your face, arms or hands, that starts as a raised bump and develops into a painless ulcer with a black area in the center.
See also Notice to Readers: Considerations for Distinguishing Influenza-Like Illness from Inhalational Anthrax.

How can I know my cold or flu is not anthrax?
Many human illnesses begin with what are commonly referred to as “flu-likeâ€

New Hampshire Woman Diagnosed With Rare Type of Anthrax After Attending 'Drumming Circle'

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

CONCORD, N.H. — A New Hampshire woman diagnosed with a rare gastrointestinal anthrax case may have swallowed spores propelled into the air by vigorous drumming, a state health expert said.

Officials haven't confirmed how the woman contracted the disease but are focusing on a drum circle gathering she attended Dec. 4 at the United Campus Ministry center in Durham shortly before becoming ill. Public health officials who learned of her diagnosis last week immediately began investigating, and earlier this week shut down the ministry center after anthrax spores were found on two drums.

Some health officials believe it's the nation's first case of gastrointestinal anthrax, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is unsure.

Dr. Elizabeth Talbot, an adviser to the state's public health division, said one theory is that the woman ingested airborne spores from a drum's animal-hide covering.

"This was a wild type of anthrax that is found ubiquitously in our environment. It can become stirred up or agitated to a place where it briefly suspends in the air, and this patient likely contacted it on her fingers and introduced it into her mouth or inhaled a ... spore into her mouth and then swallowed it," she said.

Two recent U.S. anthrax cases involved African drums covered with animal hides, but those involved spores that were inhaled or entered through the skin.

On Tuesday, officials said spores also were found on an electrical outlet and that antibiotics and vaccines would be offered to about 80 people, including about 60 who attended the drum circle as well as University of New Hampshire students who lived in the building and those who worked there.

Samples have been sent to the CDC to determine whether the patient's anthrax strain matches that found on the drums or electrical outlet.

The ministry center is not part of the university, but it houses students and runs a variety of campus-based programs. Pastor Larry Brickner-Wood, the center's director, said the monthly drum circles involve people playing hand drums and other percussion instruments to build community spirit and promote well-being.

"Our thoughts and prayers remain with this young woman and her family," he said.

Anthrax is a potentially fatal disease caused by bacteria. There are three types of infection based on where the disease manifests itself: inhalation affecting the lungs, cutaneous affecting the skin and gastrointestinal affecting the digestive tract. Infection from natural sources such as animal skins, soil or contaminated meat is rare in developed countries, but occurs regularly in poor nations. It is not transmitted from person-to-person.

In 2007, two members of a Connecticut family were treated for skin anthrax traced to animal hides used to make African drums. In 2006, a New York dancer and drum maker who collapsed after a performance in Pennsylvania recovered from the first case of naturally occurring inhalation anthrax in the United States since 1976.

According to state public health officials and The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, there have been no previous confirmed cases of gastrointestinal anthrax in the United States. A Minnesota farm family was believed to have symptoms of the disease in 2000 after eating meat from an infected cow, but blood test results from exposed family members were negative, state health officials said.

A CDC spokesman did not have details of any other U.S. cases but said the agency's Web site and literature from CDC authors indicate that gastrointestinal anthrax and exposure have rarely been reported.

The last New Hampshire anthrax cases were in 1957 when there were nine cases — four skin and five inhalation — in employees of a textile mill in Manchester. Since then, there have been 11 cases of naturally occurring anthrax in the United States.

In 2001, letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to journalists and two U.S. senators in the weeks following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. At least four people, including two postal workers and a photo editor, died from exposure to those letters, and more than a dozen others became ill.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,581460,00.html

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