Anthrax Found In New York. Authorities are quick to announce it is a “different type” than, and “apparently unrelated” to, the Florida cases. Boston Channel Certainly the route of infection was different — cutaneous rather than pulmonary — but that does not establish that it was a different strain of the bacterium. As I understand it, they have not completed its genetic analysis. This, not the route of entry, will tell us if it had a common origin with the Florida strain. If they want to reassure us, they should restrict themselves to reminding the public that there is no risk of person-to-person contagion. Take-home lesson? “Don’t inhale.”

Other interesting aspects of this case; it appears to have been destined for Tom Brokaw but was instead opened by one of his staffers, who became infected. She’s had the infection for almost two weeks, but it is only being revealed now. The contents of a suspicious letter received at Microsoft’s offices in Nevada have been confirmed to test positive for anthrax spores as well. Both the New York and the Nevada letters were reportedly postmarked in St. Petersburg, Florida. [What do you think the odds are that all these anthrax isolates are of the same strain?]