A member of the hazardous materials team responsible for protecting the northern half of Mercer County — an area that includes Princeton — was hospitalized last week after he had a "suspicious" nasal swab.
"We're learning as we go from day to day, and the nasal test swabs are not always 100-percent accurate. Evidently, he was not exposed," explained Dennis Keenan, a spokesman for the Trenton Fire Department.
The hazmat team is part of the fire department. Keenan said a blood test of the individual for anthrax exposure came back negative, leading authorities to conclude the patient was not at risk.
However, according to Centers for Disease Control guidelines, a negative nasal swab does not rule out the possibility of anthrax exposure. The nasal swab is not a reliable tool for finding out whether or not an individual patient has been exposed, but it is helpful to epidemiologists who need an immediate estimate of the extent of anthrax exposure.
More reliable methods of testing individuals involve laboratory cultures of blood or spinal fluid and can take several days to complete.
Keenan explained that the individual who was hospitalized had chronic bronchitis that might have made him more susceptible to developing the anthrax disease, leading authorities to be extra cautious in his case.
Keenan said members of the Trenton hazmat team have not been vaccinated against anthrax, because health officials do not consider it necessary.
"When they respond to one of these scenes of suspicious powder, the first thing they do is interview the people who found the powder, at a safe distance," Keenan said. "They get as much information as they can and then they don the protective clothing whenever they go anywhere near the threat. Realistically, they're the safest people out there.
"We're confident, but we're testing them just as an extra added precaution," he said.
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