Durham, NHA confirmed case of gastrointestinal anthrax has been found in a woman from Strafford County, NH. On December 26, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced that they are investigating the source of the anthrax, which has struck fear among residents in the surrounding area.
Dr. Jose Montero, the New Hampshire State Public Health Director, said that the woman has been sick throughout December, and was diagnosed with the potentially fatal illness after undergoing a series of tests. The woman is now in critical condition at a Massachusetts hospital.
Gastrointestinal anthrax is a rare disease caused by eating meat contaminated with anthrax bacteria or their spores—it is not the variety of anthrax associated with terrorists and biological weapons. Antibiotics and supportive anthrax treatment can sometimes cure the disease, but gastrointestinal anthrax results in death in 25 to 60 percent of cases.
Symptoms of Gastrointestinal Anthrax can include:
Stomach pain
Loss of appetite
Bloody diarrhea
Nausea
Fever
Vomiting blood.
Gastrointestinal anthrax occurs naturally in warm and tropical regions of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. According to The New Hampshire Union Leader, health officials suspect the woman, whose identity was not released, may have contracted the infection at a drum circle at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. The monthly drum circle that takes place at United Campus Ministry involves the use of African instruments that officials suspect may contain naturally occurring spores.
The woman's case, which is believed to be "naturally occurring", is the first anthrax case in New Hampshire since 1957.