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back to article UK anthrax victim infected by drum skin

The 50-year-old man who died in 2006 from anthrax probably caught the disease while "playing or handling West African drums", the BBC reports. Christopher Norris worked with untreated animal hides at his home at Black Lodge in Stobs in the Scottish Borders. An inquiry has concluded he succumbed to the first case of "inhalation …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    Christopher Norris?

    His cousin Chuck also played the same drums, but he infected the Anthrax

    Coat, Door, TAXI!

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  2. Spleen

    OMG

    Quick, search all bags at airports and train stations for drum skins and prepare to invade Senegal.

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  3. Del Merritt

    As Seen On TV!

    This was the plot of an episode of a show called "Medical Investigations" a couple years ago. I watched it because my sister-in-law was one of the cast. Life imitating reality again...

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  4. Hein Kruger

    crystal gripping new age hippie bulshit

    "was most likely infected while participating in a drumming session in the village hall in Smailholm"

    I bet there were pamphlets advertising the drumming session, filled with nonsense about the wonderful healing power of drumming...

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  5. Tim Greenwood
    Alert

    Should I be worried?

    My wife has recently purchased a new Djembe and all in the family have had fun bashing away at the thing for a while. The group she plays with have also bought a new batch of various drums which do originate from the African subcontinent.

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  6. Tawakalna
    IT Angle

    so where's the IT angle?

    or the Paris Hilton angle, for that matter?

    ah. bongoes. I take it back

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  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    re: crystal gripping new age hippie bulshit

    "I bet there were pamphlets advertising the drumming session, filled with nonsense about the wonderful healing power of drumming..."

    LOL, you've obviously never been to Smailholm.

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  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    re: crystal gripping new age hippie bulshit

    Captures the not-so-happy hippy overtones of colonic irrigation neurosis perfectly.

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  9. Quinten Lansu
    IT Angle

    @Del Merritt

    I'm guessing that's the only reason you watched?

    We still get it on Dutch television, and... and... they put it after House for crying out loud.

    I set the recorder so it doesn't record it any more, that's how bad Medical Investigation is.

    Thank god I play snare drum though!

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  10. Anonymous Coward
    Dead Vulture

    African subcontinent?

    Africa is a continent, not a sub-continent. Perhaps "sub-Saharan Africa" was the intention?

    Anyway, personally I wouldn't loose too much sleep over it, it's hardly an epidemic!

    PS The vulture in the icon has just died of anthrax

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  11. Chris G

    The power of drumming!

    Don't knock the healing power of drumming. Since I took up drumming my scabies has all but gone and I haven't had cholera once.

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  12. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    @ first AC

    I think it's worse than that-If Chuck has all the awesomeness, then his brother would be the opposite. Everything weakly and sucky must be his livelyhood.

    Chuck Norris' brother would then be like South Park's "Kenny"....

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  13. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Their called percussionists

    not hippies you tin eared twat, how old are you I happen to know we killed all the real hippies and anyone that called us hippies back in the early eighties fucking stupid hippy.

    -An OLD PUNK

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  14. Neil Gerstenberg

    Hide and Sick

    Since in both these cases the victims had "animal hides" at home, why do the experts conclude that the drumming sessions were to blame? No one else caught the disease except the guys who hung untreated skins up in their living room... Have I missed something?

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  15. Mike Forsyth
    Pirate

    @Neil Gerstenberg et al

    I was in that drumming class (I figured it would be a safe change from flying or sailing or climbing - how wrong was I) and drummed beside the chap that sadly died. The comprehensive report on the BBC page explains that they only found anthrax spores in the hall at Smailholm and not in this home where he did his hobby of taxidermy. His home was very closely examined as that was the mian hypothesis last year. When they found nothing they eventually examined the hall where the classes took place where they found spores.

    As an aside although you could walk past the hall and drive up to it, there was an air exclusion zone of 3 nautical miles so we couldn't fly over it under 3,000 feet... They also held the 'are you worried about Anthrax?' meeting in the village hall where they subsequently found the spores.

    I wonder if any terrorist organisation would be interested in my drum...

    There is also some IT in this story as one of the main problems highlighted in the report is the failing of IT in delays of database capture.

    Mike

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  16. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    Rolf was first

    "...tan me hide when I'm dead, Fred.

    ...tan me hide when I'm dead.

    So we tanned his hide when he died, Clive.

    And that's him hanging on the shed!

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