[iwar] [fc:Bioterrorism.hoaxes.send.13.to.hospital.in.Fla.]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-10-09 21:01:38


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Subject: [iwar] [fc:Bioterrorism.hoaxes.send.13.to.hospital.in.Fla.]
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Bioterrorism hoaxes send 13 to hospital in Fla. 
The Miami Herald, 10/08/2001 <a href="http://webpublisher.lexisnexis.com/index.asp?layout=story&gid=1990000599&cid=120003012&did=4458-25D0-0109-H165-00000-00">http://webpublisher.lexisnexis.com/index.asp?layout=story&gid=1990000599&cid=120003012&did=4458-
25D0-0109-H165-00000-00</a>

MIAMI _ A pair of apparent bioterrorism hoaxes sent eight residents and
five firefighters to hospitals for observation Sunday after two families
in Hialeah reported receiving mysterious envelopes containing a white
powder. 

Authorities said the incidents appeared to be related, unfounded
bioterrorism scares, but the diagnosis came only at day's end after a
host of fire, hospital and public health officials treated the events as
the "worst-case scenario" terror attacks for which they train. 

"That's a sick mind that would want to play that kind of hoax, if that's
what it is," Hialeah Fire Rescue Lt.  Stanley Stark said.  "They're
taxing our system, and we're dealing with people's lives here.  I'm
hoping if it is a hoax, we don't let our guard down, and then when the
real thing happens, many people can die as a result."

The Miami-Dade County Health Department urged the public not to
overreact to news that a Lantana man died from a rare case of anthrax
Friday. 

"I don't want to have this community panicky," said Dr.  Eleni
Sfakianaki, medical director of the department, which tested at least
one of the white powders.  The results were still pending. 

Even if a real anthrax attack were to occur, Sfakianaki said, victims
would not show symptoms of infection within the first 24 hours.  That
can take weeks to months, health officials say. 

In Hialeah, paramedics responded to 3465 W.  13th Ave.  at about 8:30
a.m.  after a 72-year-old man reported having difficulty breathing when
he opened an envelope containing a white powder Saturday. 

Hialeah Fire Rescue identified the people taken to Palm Springs General
Hospital from that address as Jacinto Perez, 72; Luz Digiacana, his
sister-in-law, also 72; Susy Larsh, 36, his daughter; and Gregoria
Rodriguez, 70, a tenant in the Perez home. 

Stark said the three relatives had low-grade fevers. 

They were treated with antibiotics and released after their blood tests
came out negative, but they were told not to return to theirhouse for
the time being. 

The tenant was not exposed to the powder but was transported to the
hospital as a precaution, he said. 

All four were placed in isolation. 

Stark said that on Saturday, the family found in the mailbox a brown
envelope containing a blank sheet of paper and the white powder. 

They did not recognize the sender's name or address, he said. 

"They were basically very nervous," Stark said.  "I'm not sure why they
waited so long to call us."

At the scene, the fire department deployed its specially outfitted
hazardous materials team into the house to take the envelope and the
clothing the relatives were wearing when they were exposed to the white
powder, Stark said. 

"We took every precaution because we didn't know what this white powder
was," he said. 

Police cordoned off the block for several hours, and Fire Rescue told
Perez's neighbors to stay inside with their windows shut until they got
the all-clear. 

The second scare was reported at about 4 p.m.  when another letter
"similar in size and color" to the first and also containing white
powder was reported by a family of four living at 1410 W.  41st St.,
about eight blocks away, Stark said.  No names were released. 

Stark said that when the father went outside to put the letter in the
garbage on Sunday, "there was a minor explosion, and a white powder came
out of the letter."

The man felt a minor burn and irritation on his right hand where it came
in contact with the powder, Stark said. 

The man then went into his apartment, potentially contaminating his
family and eventually the paramedics who entered the apartment to treat
him. 

Stark said a husband and wife, both 42, and their two daughters, ages 14
and 18, were transported to North Shore Medical Center.  Three
firefighters were sent to Palmetto General Hospital and two more to
Hialeah Hospital. 

All of them were placed in isolation and were awaiting blood test
results, Stark said.  No one reported feeling ill. 

Stark said the fire department evacuated the floor and the hazardous
materials team was again on the scene. 

"I really don't know what the intention of the sender was or why these
people were targeted," he said. 

"There are a lot of unanswered questions."

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