News Update
August 26, 20=
11
Contact
information
Health officials update
information on anthrax case
The Minnesota Department of Health in collaboration with the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been investigating a case
of inhalation anthrax. The individual, a man in his 60s, had traveled
through several states in July and early August, where anthrax is known to =
be
in the soil and to have caused infections in animals, including North Dakota, South Dakota,
Montana and Wyoming. He was hospitalized in early =
August
with pneumonia, was determined to have inhalation anthrax and is now
recovering. The Bacillus
anthracis strain isolated from the pat=
ient
was found by genetic testing to be similar to other strains isolated in North America. The individual had a prior chronic l=
ung
condition, which may have made him more susceptible to infection with anthr=
ax,
and had multiple exposures to soil and animal products. No other human case=
s of
anthrax have been reported in 2011.
-MDH-
For more
information, contact:
Doug Schultz
MDH Communications
651-201-4993
Ruth Lynfield
State Epidemiologist
651-201-5414