TABLE 1.
A week in the life of the Laboratory Response Network (Florida)
| Date in 2001 | Eventa | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Monday 1 October | 73-year-old man hospitalized with a respiratory infection | A Miami-Dade County hospital |
| Tuesday 2 October | 63-year-old man (index patient) hospitalized with symptoms of meningitis | A Palm Beach County hospital |
| Cerebrospinal fluid and blood collected for microbiological analysis from index patient | A Palm Beach County hospital | |
| Index patient microbiology results: from CSF, WBC, 4,750/mm3, RBC, 1,375/mm3, glucose, 57 mg/dl, protein, 666 mg/dl; from blood culture, Gram-positive bacillus, nonhemolytic on 5% sheep blood agar, nonmotile; unable to rule out Bacillus anthracis | A commercial laboratory in Fort Lauderdale | |
| Wednesday 3 October | Index patient isolate forwarded to reference laboratory | Florida Bureau of Public Health Laboratories—Jacksonville |
| Thursday 4 October | Index patient isolate confirmed to be Bacillus anthracis and reported to CDC | Florida Bureau of Public Health Laboratories—Jacksonville |
| Index patient isolate flown to CDC | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA | |
| Friday 5 October | Index patient dies of inhalational anthrax | A Palm Beach County hospital |
| 56 samples (44 nonworkplace samples and 12 workplace samples) obtained for culture collected by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) | Environmental sampling from workplace and locations visited by index patient in the 60 days prior to onset of symptoms | |
| Sunday 7 October | Of the 56 samples collected 5 October 2001, B. anthracis was isolated from two, the index patient's workplace computer keyboard and the index patient's mailbox in the company mailroom, confirming suspicion that this represents an intentional release of an agent of biological terrorism | Florida Bureau of Public Health Laboratories—Lantana/Miami |
| A nasal swab sample collected 5 October 2001 from a patient hospitalized since 1 October, the 2nd case patient, who was a coworker of the index patient at American Media Inc. (AMI), was tested; microbiology results confirmed that the isolate was B. anthracis | Florida Bureau of Public Health Laboratories—Miami |
a
WBC, white blood cells; RBC, red blood cells.