Within hours of dropping the slant off at the lab we had positive preliminary results for anthrax. Sadly the patient never regained consciousness and died on Halloween. We knew from her doctors and co-workers that Ms. Nguyen worked as a stockroom clerk, lived alone and kept mostly to herself, but we’d never be able to interview her. The mailroom was next to the stockroom, so we told ourselves her case was not unexpected and fit with the other cases where contaminated mail was the route of exposure.
The hospital voluntarily closed and a team of epidemiologists from NYC and CDC plus detectives and agents of the JTTF (Joint Terrorism Task Force comprised of NYPD, State Police and the FBI) descended on the building before dawn. I got there just as the TV crews were setting up and they mistook me for a patient and let me pass unmolested. We were operating on the premise that anthrax spores, once settled, didn’t re-aerosolize. The FBI and NYPD didn’t share our view and while they debated the risks of entering the building without moon suits we brazenly, and perhaps foolishly, began the investigation.
One team swabbed the basement for spores while others interviewed her boss and co-workers. We were looking for anyone who was ill or had information on Ms. Nguyen's activities. Her locker contents and her clothes were swabbed. Anyone who worked near the stock or mail rooms got their noses swabbed and a vial of antibiotics. Patients who had been in the building that week were contacted and their health evaluated. No suspect cases were identified. Two curious leads emerged from the interviews. Ms. Nguyen had a past relationship with a person described as an “agent” and two days before her illness she got dust in her eyes that irritated them enough that she asked a nurse to irrigate them. We didn't find a single spore anywhere in the hospital or her home. We had to reevaluate our hypothesis.
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