A 94-year-old woman in rural Connecticut is in "critical condition" with inhalation anthrax, Connecticut Governor John Rowland told ABC news Wednesday.
Rowland said tests by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "came back positive."
The woman was admitted to hospital Friday experiencing symptoms of pneumonia, but preliminary tests for inhalation anthrax came back positive.
The elderly woman, who is mostly housebound but for occasional trips to the beauty parlor, has no apparent connection to any of the other anthrax cases that have been reported in Washington, New York and Florida.
There is "no way of telling if this was related to New York or anywhere else, or whether it was the mail," Rowland told ABC. "We continue to look at the mail issue."
Rowland said 1,500 postal employees have been tested for anthrax at two postal facilities in the small, northeastern state.
Four people have died of inhalation anthrax in the United States, while another six have been diagnosed with it. Seven people have contracted the skin form of the infection – Washington (AFP)
