MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2003 Oct 3;52(39):937-8.
In October 2001, two letters contaminated with Bacillus anthracis spores were processed by mechanical and manual methods at the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Brentwood Mail Processing and Distribution Center in the District of Columbia. Four postal workers at the Brentwood facility became ill with what was diagnosed eventually as inhalational anthrax; two died. The facility was closed on October 21, and postexposure prophylaxis was recommended for approximately 2,500 workers and business visitors. Subsequent reports of deaths of facility workers prompted concern about whether mortality was unusually high among workers, perhaps related to the anthrax attacks. To evaluate the rates and causes of death among workers at the Brentwood facility during October 12, 2001-October 11, 2002, CDC, in collaboration with state and local health departments, analyzed death certificate data. In addition, these data were compared with aggregate mortality data from the five USPS facilities contaminated with B. anthracis during the fall 2001 anthrax attacks. This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which indicate that rates and causes of death among Brentwood workers during the 12 months after the anthrax attacks of 2001 were not different from rates and causes of deaths that occurred during the preceding 5 years.
2001年10月，美国邮政服务公司（USPS）位于哥伦比亚特区的布伦特伍德邮件处理与配送中心对两封被炭疽芽孢杆菌孢子污染的信件进行了机械和人工处理。布伦特伍德设施的四名邮政工作人员患病，最终被诊断为吸入性炭疽；两人死亡。该设施于10月21日关闭，并建议对约2500名工作人员和商务访客进行暴露后预防。随后关于该设施工作人员死亡的报告引发了人们对工作人员死亡率是否异常高的担忧，这可能与炭疽袭击有关。为评估2001年10月12日至2002年10月11日期间布伦特伍德设施工作人员的死亡率及死亡原因，美国疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）与州和地方卫生部门合作，分析了死亡证明数据。此外，还将这些数据与2001年秋季炭疽袭击期间被炭疽芽孢杆菌污染的五个美国邮政设施的总体死亡率数据进行了比较。本报告总结了该分析结果，结果表明2001年炭疽袭击后12个月内布伦特伍德工作人员的死亡率及死亡原因与前5年并无差异。
