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| International |
| Egyptian Sailor Dies in Brazil From Anthrax-Police |
| 2003-04-28 |
| A crew member of an Egyptian merchant ship has died in northern Brazil, almost certainly from anthrax, after opening a suitcase suspected of containing the substance which he was taking to Canada. Think Canada was his last stop? Me neither. A spokesman for Brazilian federal police in the Amazon state of Para said on Monday an autopsy of the Egyptian man, whom he named as Ibrahim Saved Soliman Ibrahim, showed that he had died after vomiting, internal bleeding and multiple organ failure. "He was the victim of anthrax," said Fernando Sergio Castro, adding that police were 90 percent certain that Ibrahim had died of anthrax. Ibrahim died in the hotel were he was staying on April 11. Several health workers who found his body were taken to a hospital after becoming ill but are now out of danger. Ibrahim had traveled to Brazil from Cairo to join his ship, the Wabi Alaras, which loaded bauxite in the Amazon to take to Canada. "We imagine that this is about bioterrorism and Brazil was just used as a point of transfer," said Castro. Ibrahim died before his ship sailed to Canada, where it was quarantined by authorities last week. Canada was alerted about the ship through Interpol. Castro said Ibrahim had been given the suitcase in Cairo by an unidentified person and was due to deliver it to somebody in Canada. But he doubted Ibrahim knew what the content of the bag was otherwise he most likely would not have opened it. Bright boy... "He opened it because he was curious," Castro said. ...and we all know what curiousity does. Also, where's the suitcase now? I'd be real interested in that. After the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, five people died in still-unsolved anthrax mailings. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #7 Uh, where's the suitcase now? |
| Posted by: someone 2003-04-28 18:15:43 |
| #6 Some thoughts:Presumably,he wanted to check the mystery suitcase in private;what better place than your hotel room?If the guy had anthrax spores on his body,that explains how the health workers could have gotten infected.That's how you get cutaneous and inhalation anthrax (but not intestinal).Also,the health workers didn't take ill 'fast',the man died on April 11. And Steve,the symptoms match inhalational anthrax even better than intestinal, in particular the 'multiple organ failure'.(Also,if the guy had intestinal,how the hell did the health workers get ill?) |
| Posted by: El Id 2003-04-28 17:41:39 |
| #5 "Several health workers who found his body were taken to a hospital after becoming ill ..." Oh, that SMELL!... |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-04-28 17:05:30 |
| #4 Questions: 1. Who gave him the suitcase? 2. Who was he supposed to give it to, and where? 3. Where is the suitcase? 4. How much anthrax was in it? 5. Was it weaponized(powedered,etc)? 6. Why did the health workers take ill so fast? |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-04-28 15:59:46 |
| #3 Infectious disease experts have found no obvious sign of anthrax aboard an Egyptian freighter quarantined outside Halifax Harbour, a Health Canada official said Sunday. "They found the ship in good shape, the level of cleanliness, all those sorts of things," said Bob Fowler of the team that inspected the ship. "So they are obviously coming back with a good feeling that … the ship does not contain any anthrax contamination." The samples taken during the inspection will be analyzed in Halifax, and results are expected by Tuesday at the latest. If the test is negative, the ship will continue. Otherwise, a biohazard team will clean it. The deceased man visited a farm, and doctors think he may have come in contact with an infected animal. Questions, where and when did he visit this farm? His symptoms match those of Gastrointestinal anthrax -- results from ingestion of meat contaminated with anthrax bacteria, causes symptoms within two to five days and includes stomach pain, diarrhea, fever and septicemia (bacteria in the blood). |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-04-28 15:11:14 |
| #2 Given the point sources for this news are Egypt and Brazil, I'd place its reliability at about 20%. Plus, anthrax doesn't make people ill immediately, as were the health workers who discovered his body. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-04-28 14:45:28 |
| #1 See what our great airport security does, and why it should be implemented at ports as well? If only someone at the dock had asked him if he'd packed his own bags or if anyone had given him a package to take with him, this whole incident could have been averted! Real tough questions = real security! How many more Ibrahims must we lose before the world understands? |
| Posted by: Dar 2003-04-28 14:39:52 |