A US postal employee in Washington has been diagnosed with respiratory anthrax, a highly lethal strain of the disease, health officials said today.
"It's a case of inhalation anthrax," an official of the Washington Health Services said, asking not to be identified.
"He's in a serious condition," confirmed Ms Janet Moore, a spokeswoman for the Inova Fairfax hospital just outside Washington, where the man was being treated.
The case is the first reported in Washington, where traces of anthrax were found in both chambers of the US Congress.
Twenty-eight Senate employees tested positive for exposure to the bacteria, but Capitol Hill physician Mr John Eisold said they all appear healthy.
A total of nine people have been infected with anthrax in the US in recent weeks.
Of the three people diagnosed with respiratory anthrax, one died October 5th. Six people are following antibiotic regimens for treatment of skin anthrax.
AFP