Florida man has anthrax

War on terrorism: Fears

The White House moved quickly to allay fears of a chemical or biological attack by terrorists last night after a man was diagnosed as suffering from the potentially lethal disease anthrax.

US health officials confirmed that Robert Stevens, 63, was in critical condition in a Florida hospital but reassured a jittery nation that the outbreak was "isolated" and there was no suggestion of a sinister cause.

Tommy Thompson, the US Health Secretary, said: "This is an isolated case and it's not contagious." He added that such cases were "very rare". Mr Stevens, a businessman of British descent living in Lantana, Florida, is believed to have contracted the infection, which has a 60-day incubation period, by inhaling spores of the anthrax bacteria.

Dr Larry Bush, of the JFK Medical Centre in Palm Beach, where Mr Stevens is being treated, said he had been admitted to the hospital suffering from confusion and vomiting on 1 October and the diagnosis of anthrax had been confirmed earlier yesterday.

The FBI and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating the case. Fears that terrorists may have been planning an airborne chemical or biological attack were raised last month when it was revealed that a group of Middle Eastern men – including one of the hijackers in the attack on the World Trade Centre – had been asking about a crop-duster at an airfield in Florida. The government then grounded all crop-dusters.