US anthrax victim dies

A man diagnosed with a rare form of anthrax has died.

Robert Stevens died at the JFK Medical Centre in Palm Beach after being confirmed as having contracted pulmonary anthrax, the rarest form of the infection.

Health officials have ruled out the possibility that Mr Stevens, a picture editor with US news magazine The Sun, was the victim of a bio-terrorist attack.

The 63-year-old, of Lantana, Florida, contracted the infection by inhaling spores of the anthrax bacteria, the rarest way to become ill with the rare disease.

His death is the first case of pulmonary anthrax in America since 1975, and one of only a handful in the country in the past 100 years.

Public health investigators are undertaking a search of his home and car to try to find the source of the anthrax spores.

He is believed to have contracted the infection about 10 days ago, at or near his home in Florida.

But officials have warned the source of the infection may never be found, because it is so rare.

Anthrax is a potentially deadly bacterial infection which is most common in cattle, sheep and goats, and its spores can live in the soil for years.

The infection can be spread through spores coming into contact with the skin, being swallowed or by being inhaled, which leads to the rarest and most serious form of the illness in humans.