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New Jersey Health Commissioner Gives Briefing

Aired November 1, 2001 - 14:40   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: The New Jersey health commissioner is about to start a briefing, perhaps already has. We're not clear what he's going to say. We'll find out. Here we go.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

DR. EDDY BRESNITZ, N.J. STATE EPIDEMIOLOGIST: ... considered suspected cases.

We continue to do active outreach not only in New Jersey area, but working cooperatively with the Pennsylvania Department of Health and hospitals within Bucks County and Philadelphia, and we've also extended our activities to Delaware, considering that the latest individual is a Delaware resident. We have active tracking going on with those by reaching out to hospitals, as well as physicians, asking to report any cases that we suspect might fail the criteria, could lead to a diagnosis of anthrax.

We have, emphasize again, we have advised the medical community, medical provider community, including hospitals, physicians. We do not consider nasal swab is useful test. The test provides us no useful information. We urging individual not to have that testing done.

In addition, we are working with CDC, as well as law enforcement agencies, to do environmental sampling. We have number of facilities that have environment sampling done. Of course, you know about the Hamilton processing center. The West Trenton center to date has no positive results. We're still waiting for final confirmation that the tests done by the FBI are negative. Those tests were done actually on October 19th. The building of the individual residence of Hamilton Township was tested I believe on October the 29th, and we still waiting for results on that.

We have other tests that have done and confirmed negative. The Carterette Facility was one facility that was tested. Those individuals were prophylactic antibiotics, and when the tests came back negative, we suggested they no longer needed to be on antibiotics, and there was also the Princeton Post Office in West Windsor. There were 46 samples that were taken from that facility, 45 of them are negative, and there is one that is positive, and we went in with the Niage (ph) team to do some resampling the other day, and we are still awaiting those results. And I want to just emphasize again that our principle here, in terms of recommendations for antibiotic prophylactics is to balance the risk of anthrax and the adverse effects related to antibiotics, and that is our driving principle, in terms of our recommendations. And with that I will stop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really, that's what we've got for you today, so we will go right to questions.

QUESTION: Doctor, it seems to me the New Jersey inhalation anthrax cases were, I wouldn't say being, but far less virulent than either of the cases in Florida or Washington. Any evidence to back that conclusion up?

BRESNITZ: I'm glad they are doing well. It's tragic there's been deaths in other parts of the country. I'm not sure what to make of it. We don't have enough information to explain the difference in the -- the apparent difference in severity, and I think I'll just leave it at that.

QUESTION: How many in the hospital total in New Jersey as a result of either skin or inhalation.

BRESNITZ: I believe there is only one individual. That is the person hospitalized in South Jersey.

QUESTION: For inhalation.

BRESNITZ: That's correct, and her latest status has been upgraded to fair. She's had a difficult hospital course. She's been in the hospital now I believe for approximately 12 days on multiple antibiotics throughout that period, but she's heading in the rite direction, and...

One of the original cases that basically started us down this road was the mail carrier in the Hamilton Township facility. That individual is labeled, classified, as a suspected case of cutaneous anthrax. That will be his classification from now into the future. We have no another evidence, subjective evidence, laboratory evidence, to actually change his classification. He will always be suspected case, he will not be confirmed case, according to the CDC definition.

BROWN: Briefing out of New Jersey on the anthrax cases there. Doesn't appear any major developments.

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