The anthrax scare in Florida now has Missouri connections'
Two Missourians may have been exposed to anthrax related to the American media incorporated building in Boca Raton, Florida. Nanci Gonder is spokesperson for the Missouri department of health and senior services...
Gonder emphasizes that this situation does not place any other Missourian at risk'
However, because of the anthrax scare in Florida, the Missouri department of health and senior services has activated a high-alert disease detection system, and is asking hospitals and physicians in the state to report to their local or state health department if they see patients who have symptoms that could be related to biological or chemical weapons. The department's director Dr. Maureen Dempsey says quote "we certainly do not expect a Bioterrorism event in Missouri. However, we want to be prepared so that we have the capacity to detect an event at the earliest possible point." Gonder says the department is doing all it can to prepare for a Bioterrorism event should one occur'
Meanwhile, the department is waiting for results of tests done in the two potential exposure cases in Missouri to come in. It has notified officials with the centers for disease control and prevention who are working with the investigation in Florida as well as with the FBI. The health department plans to release the results of the lab tests when they come in'probably sometime on Friday.
