Publications

public health and environmental response to the first case of naturally acquired inhalational anthrax in the united states in 30 years: infection of a new york city resident who worked with dried animal hides.	in pennsylvania on february 16, 2006, a new york city resident collapsed with rigors and was hospitalized. on february 21, the centers for disease control and prevention and the new york city department of health and mental hygiene were notified that bacillus anthracis had been identified in the patient's blood. although the patient's history of working with dried animal hides to make african drums indicated the likelihood of a natural exposure to aerosolized anthrax spores, bioterrorism had to ...	2010	20357604
prevalence of bacillus anthracis-like organisms and bacteriophages in the intestinal tract of the earthworm eisenia fetida.	stable infection of bacillus anthracis laboratory strains with environmental bacteriophages confers survival phenotypes in soil and earthworm intestinal niches (r. schuch and v. a. fischetti, plos one 4:e6532, 2009). here, the natural occurrence of two such b. anthracis-infective bacteriophages, wip1 and wip4, was examined in the intestines of eisenia fetida earthworms as part of a 6-year longitudinal study at a pennsylvania forest site. the wip1 tectivirus was initially dominant before being su ...	2010	20118353
detection of disease outbreaks by the use of oral manifestations.	oral manifestations of diseases caused by bioterrorist agents could be a potential data source for biosurveillance. this study had the objectives of determining the oral manifestations of diseases caused by bioterrorist agents, measuring the prevalence of these manifestations in emergency department reports, and constructing and evaluating a detection algorithm based on them. we developed a software application to detect oral manifestations in free text and identified positive reports over three ...	2009	19131324
evaluation of gram-positive rod surveillance for early anthrax detection.	since 2003, connecticut laboratories have reported gram-positive rod (gpr) isolates detected within 32 h of inoculation from blood or cerebrospinal fluid. the objectives were to rapidly identify inhalational anthrax and unusual clostridium spp. infections, and to establish round-the-clock laboratory reporting of potential indicators of bioterrorism. from 2003 to 2006, connecticut's gpr surveillance system identified 1134 isolates, including 657 bacillus spp. (none b. anthracis) and 241 clostridi ...	2009	19397835
inhalation anthrax associated with dried animal hides--pennsylvania and new york city, 2006.	on february 21, 2006, the pennsylvania department of health (pdoh) reported to cdc and the new york city (nyc) department of health and mental hygiene (dohmh) a case of inhalation anthrax in a man who resided in new york city. this report summarizes the joint epidemiologic and environmental investigation conducted by local, state, and federal public health, animal health, and law enforcement authorities in pennsylvania and nyc to determine the source of exposure and identify other persons who we ...	2006	16543883
patients' request for and emergency physicians' prescription of antimicrobial prophylaxis for anthrax during the 2001 bioterrorism-related outbreak.	inappropriate use of antibiotics by individuals worried about biological agent exposures during bioterrorism events is an important public health concern. however, little is documented about the extent to which individuals with self-identified risk of anthrax exposure approached physicians for antimicrobial prophylaxis during the 2001 bioterrorism attacks in the united states.	2005	15634353
media exposure to bioterrorism: stress and the anthrax attacks.	this study examined media exposure and adjustment to anthrax bioterrorism attacks and the terrorist attacks on 9/11 in a sample of 300 people who lived distant from the attacks. measures of direct and indirect exposure to terrorism, perceived risk of anthrax exposure, psychological distress, and outlook were assessed at 2 to 3 months and at 8 months after the first reported anthrax attack. initial anthrax media exposure was a powerful predictor of distress, whereas subsequent anthrax media expos ...	2005	15899708
surveillance for anthrax cases associated with contaminated letters, new jersey, delaware, and pennsylvania, 2001.	in october 2001, two inhalational anthrax and four cutaneous anthrax cases, resulting from the processing of bacillus anthracis-containing envelopes at a new jersey mail facility, were identified. subsequently, we initiated stimulated passive hospital-based and enhanced passive surveillance for anthrax-compatible syndromes. from october 24 to december 17, 2001, hospitals reported 240,160 visits and 7,109 intensive-care unit admissions in the surveillance area (population 6.7 million persons). fo ...	2002	12396918
update: investigation of bioterrorism-related anthrax, 2001.	this report updates the investigation of bioterrorism-related anthrax and the provision of antimicrobial prophylaxis to exposed persons and highlights cdc assistance to other countries investigating cases of bioterrorism-related anthrax. since november 7, 2001, cdc and state and local public health agencies have identified no new cases of bioterrorism-related anthrax. as of november 14, a total of 22 cases of anthrax has met the cdc case definition; 10 were confirmed inhalational anthrax, and 12 ...	2001	11724158
life on alert. nation remains jittery as threats keep coming.		2001	11715791