Anthrax has been detected in a co-worker of a man who died after contracting a rare inhaled form of the disease, and tests at the building where both worked have found evidence of the bacterium, authorities said.
A nasal swab from the man, whose name was not immediately made public, tested positive for the anthrax bacterium, said the regional spokesman for the Florida department of health, Tim O'Conner, on Monday.
It was not yet clear if anthrax had spread to his lungs, or if he had a full-blown case of the disease. The man was in stable condition at an unidentified hospital, according to both the Florida and North Carolina health departments.
His co-worker, Bob Stevens, had recently visited North Carolina. Stevens died on Friday, the first person in 25 years in the United States to have died from an inhaled form of anthrax.
News that Stevens had contracted the disease set off fears of bioterrorism, especially when it was revealed that middle eastern men were believed to have recently visited an airfield about 64 km from Stevens's home in Lantana, and to have asked about crop-dusters.
O'Conner said he couldn't say that the second case was related to terrorism. "That would take a turn in the investigation," said O'Conner. "We were thinking more of environmental sources."

Stevens, 63, was a photo editor at the supermarket tabloid the Sun. Environmental tests performed at the Sun's offices in Boc Raton have detected the anthrax bacteria, said O'Conner. Bureau Report