Death Due to Bioterrorism-Related Inhalational Anthrax

ON OCTOBER 9, 2001, A LETter containing anthrax spores was mailed to a US senator’s office in Washington, DC. That letter was processed at the Brentwood postal facility, one of the largest in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, and eventually opened by the senator’s staff 6 days later. As of October 30, 2001, 5 postal workers who worked at or handled bulk mail from that facility had been hospitalized with confirmed inhalational anthrax. Two of them died shortly after admission to area hospitals. These 2 fatal cases are reported here to educate clinicians about the clinical presentation and course of illness of inhalational anthrax following exposure to anthrax spores.