Woman, dog who went into Frederick pond are sick
By Kevin Bohn
CNN Washington Bureau
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A woman and dog who went into a Frederick, Maryland, pond last month as part of a rescue drill are now sick and that pond has been closed, city officials told CNN Tuesday.
Both the woman and dog are undergoing medical tests to help determine the cause of the illnesses.
Water samples are being sent to the state health department for analysis. Those tests are expected back in 48 to 72 hours.
The woman and dog went into the pond in late July. They were the only participants in the drill who went into the water, officials said.
The pond is one of 12 to 20 that are in a municipal forest that drew attention as part of the investigation into anthrax-laced letters that were mailed in the fall of 2001. One of the ponds was drained in June. (Full story)
The pond where the woman and dog went was not the one drained, but was one of several tested by the FBI in December and January, when agents first took interest in the area. The "FBI found no evidence of anthrax in any of the ponds which they tested," Frederick City spokeswoman Nancy Poss told CNN.
The pond that the FBI and the Postal Inspection Service drained was where an earlier search found a plastic box with holes drilled into it, which investigators thought could have been used in preparing the anthrax used in the attacks.
A spokeswoman for the county health department said the dog got sick very soon after going into the pond and is described as being in very serious condition. It has several lesions on his paw and belly as well as neurological problems. Some officials point out that some of the dog's symptoms are not indicative of anthrax.
Officials said they did not have specifics about the woman's ailments but said they were not as serious as the dog's and that she is not hospitalized.
"We have no reason to believe the situation at this point is in any way connected to anthrax," Frederick County Health Department spokeswoman Cindy Bowers told CNN.
Frederick Mayor Jennifer Dougherty contacted the FBI Monday after reports were received by the police of the sicknesses. FBI agents came to the area on Tuesday and confirmed the pond where the woman and dog went into was one of those that tested negative for anthrax back in the winter, city officials say.
