Chronology of Anthrax Events in November, 2001
CDC presents first graph of anthrax outbreak by onset times in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation says that after weeks of investigation, the government has no idea who is behind the anthrax attacks, and he appeals to the public for help in solving the case.
The FBI, criticized for its sluggish response to the widening anthrax crisis, begins testing hundreds of barrels of quarantined government mail at a Washington-area facility in search of undetected anthrax-laden letters. Health officials confirm more traces of anthrax in New York and Washington.
No new anthrax cases are reported, and several buildings that had closed because of anthrax scares, including a New York hospital, reopen. The Hamilton processing center in New Jersey remains closed.
Three professional journals release medical data on 10 inhalational anthrax cases. The information is cited at their websites, several weeks before publication.
After three weeks of searching the American Media Inc. building for anthrax, federal officials dismantle the teams, leaving the Boca Raton site for its tabloid publisher to clean up.
The FBI says it is increasingly convinced that the person behind the recent anthrax attacks is a lone wolf within the United States who has no links to terrorist groups but is an "opportunist" using the Sept. 11 hijackings to vent his rage.
About 32,000 people have been prescribed antibiotics in the anthrax crisis, although according to health officials, only 5,000 really needed them.
Small amounts of anthrax are discovered in four new locations on Capitol Hill, including the Hart Building offices of Sens. Bob Graham, D-Fla., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., but they do not threaten the health of anyone who worked or visited there, officials announce.
Trace amounts of anthrax are found in the offices of three more senators, bringing to 11 the number of senators' suites found in recent days to be contaminated. The most recent discoveries were in the offices of Sens. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Jon Corzine (D-N.J.). All 11 are in the Hart Senate office building, where an anthrax-filled letter was opened Oct. 15.
Ottilie Lundgren (case 23) of Oxford, Connecticut becomes ill with what later would be diagnosed as inhalational anthrax. Her case is baffling to authorities who see no immediate connection between this rural town and bioterror attacks in New York, Washington and Florida.
Capitol police close two Senate office buildings to test for anthrax spores after investigators discover a contaminated letter addressed to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. The letter was postmarked from Trenton, N.J., as was the one sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, and contains similar handwriting, investigators said.
A sample taken from a plastic evidence bag containing a still-unopened letter to Sen. Patrick Leahy contains at least 23,000 anthrax spores, enough for more than two lethal doses, a federal law enforcement official reports. Traces of the anthrax bacteria are also found in the office mailrooms of Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.
Ottilie Lundgren (case 23) dies of inhalation anthrax, the fifth person to die of inhalation anthrax in less than two months.
Anthrax tests in and around Ottilie Lundren's (case 23) Connecticut home come back negative, further enshrouding in mystery her death from inhalation anthrax.
The Environmental Protection Agency released complete results of its time-consuming sampling of the three-story AMI building in Boca Raton, Florida. Of 462 swab samples taken in late October and early November from floors, desks and air ducts, 84 came back positive for anthrax.
Source: Modification of table in Sun-Sentinel News December, 2001.