Case Study

2001, Letters Laced with Anthrax

In October 2001, the U.S. was on edge following the discovery of several letters containing anthrax. People who worked in facilities that received letters containing anthrax were sometimes stigmatized within their communities. Some employees of American Media, Inc., the site of the first anthrax case, were doubly victimized. Physically affected by their potential exposure to anthrax, they were also socially stigmatized by physicians who refused to care for them, schools that turned away their children, and employers of second jobs who refused to let them work: Some American Media employees who moonlighted as housekeepers were not allowed into homes to clean.

Reference

Malecki J. Health Commissioner, Plam Beach County, FL. Personal communication.