And then I did a search.
And this is what I found.
How dangerous is drum making?
http://current.com/1rkua4cA second drum maker in two years has died after apparently inhaling anthrax spores from animal skins. What are the risks of this seemingly safe job?
Fernando Gomez had been in intensive care for more than a week after handling animal skins at his drum-making workshop in London. But his condition deteriorated over the weekend and the 35-year-old died from inhalation anthrax on Sunday night.
Two years earlier, Christopher Norris, a craftsman from Scotland, died after inhaling anthrax. But are these cases a coincidence or a cause for alarm?
In the UK, the death of Mr Gomez is the second case in more than 30 years. Across the world, there are four other known cases since 1974 of drum makers dying from anthrax.
It is difficult however to put these figures into context. There are no official statistics on the numbers of drum makers and handlers of skins for drum making in the UK come in many guises - the amateur attending drumming workshops, the professional who tends to work independently, members of African communities who carry out repairs and the drummer who replaces his skins himself.
African drumming is growing in popularity in the UK, but any drumming community is informal and loosely-knit.
Health experts do stress though that cases of death from anthrax are extremely rare among drum makers, and drum players are in no danger at all.
Anthrax is a naturally occurring disease, which can sporadically affect cattle and goat herds, as well as more exotic animals such as llamas, yaks and bison, all around the world.
The skins of cows and goats, in particular, are used to make traditional African drums. Outside of the African tradition, drum skins are usually more processed and come prepared without any hair.
Most European drums are made from man-made fibres, except for some antique orchestral drums and the Irish Bodhran, made with goat or deer skin.
Drum makers say hides produce a better sound and are gentler on the hands.
Dr Phil Luton, of the Health Protection Agency, said the "vast majority" of skins imported for drum making would not be infected with anthrax.
Anthrax can be contracted through cuts to the skin (cutaneous anthrax) or by inhaling the spores (inhalation anthrax), the latter being the harder to detect and to treat.
Drum makers are at risk, however low, during the preparation of the skin, which involves stretching it over the frame and scraping hair from the hide to give it a smooth finish. The danger lies in inhaling agitated spores or an open wound becoming infected.
Inhalation Humans exposed to animal skins may breathe in the spores, but cannot pass on to other humans
Trachea Larger spores lodge in throat and windpipe
Lungs Some spores are destroyed by immune system, but smaller ones may penetrate alveoli within lungs
Consequences If untreated, flu-like symptoms are followed by severe breathing difficulties, blood poisoning and shock, usually fatal
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) says there are no other occupations known to be at risk, as jobs like rug making are more rigorously regulated.
In the case of drum makers, the HPA advises carrying out work in a well-ventilated space and to avoid breathing in dust. It says it will be reviewing its advice once the findings of the investigation into Mr Gomez's death are available.
Drum maker John Sullivan, also known as Bodhi, uses the common-sense approach, which has worked for him for the past 20 years.
He makes djembes, a goblet-shaped West African hand drum, by carving a solid log from hardwood and covering it with goats' skin imported from Gambia and Senegal.
He says he is careful not to cut himself when shaving bristly hair off with a double-edged razor blade and has considered wearing rubber gloves.
When rubbing down a bristly skin, he goes outside and checks the wind direction to ensure any spores blow away from him.
The 54-year-old, from the Suffolk coast, said the latest death had made him think twice about his own safety, but not enough to stop.
"I have been doing it 20 years and I'm still here," he said.
And now I think about the news of the woman in the US that also caught a illness from anthrax in a drum circle in the US.
New Hampshire Woman Diagnosed With Rare Type of Anthrax After Attending 'Drumming Circle'
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,581460,00.html
CONCORD, N.H. — A New Hampshire woman diagnosed with a rare gastrointestinal anthrax case may have swallowed spores propelled into the air by vigorous drumming, a state health expert said.
Officials haven't confirmed how the woman contracted the disease but are focusing on a drum circle gathering she attended Dec. 4 at the United Campus Ministry center in Durham shortly before becoming ill. Public health officials who learned of her diagnosis last week immediately began investigating, and earlier this week shut down the ministry center after anthrax spores were found on two drums.
Some health officials believe it's the nation's first case of gastrointestinal anthrax, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is unsure.
Dr. Elizabeth Talbot, an adviser to the state's public health division, said one theory is that the woman ingested 
"This was a wild type of anthrax that is found ubiquitously in our environment. It can become stirred up or agitated to a place where it briefly suspends in the air, and this patient likely contacted it on her fingers and introduced it into her mouth or inhaled a ... spore into her mouth and then swallowed it," she said.
Two recent U.S. anthrax cases involved African drums covered with animal hides, but those involved spores that were inhaled or entered through the skin.
On Tuesday, officials said spores also were found on an electrical outlet and that antibiotics and vaccines would be offered to about 80 people, including about 60 who attended the drum circle as well as University of New Hampshire students who lived in the building and those who worked there.
Samples have been sent to the CDC to determine whether the patient's anthrax strain matches that found on the drums or electrical outlet.
The ministry center is not part of the university, but it houses students and runs a variety of campus-based programs. Pastor Larry Brickner-Wood, the center's director, said the monthly drum circles involve people playing hand drums and other percussion instruments to build community spirit and promote well-being.
"Our thoughts and prayers remain with this young woman and her family," he said.
Anthrax is a potentially fatal disease caused by bacteria. There are three types of infection based on where the disease manifests itself: inhalation affecting the lungs, cutaneous affecting the skin and
In 2007, two members of a Connecticut family were treated for skin anthrax traced to animal hides used to make African drums. In 2006, a New York dancer and drum maker who collapsed after a performance in Pennsylvania recovered from the first case of naturally occurring inhalation anthrax in the United States since 1976.
According to state public health officials and The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
A CDC spokesman did not have details of any other U.S. cases but said the agency's Web site and literature from CDC authors indicate that gastrointestinal anthrax and exposure have rarely been reported.
The last New Hampshire anthrax cases were in 1957 when there were nine cases — four skin and five inhalation — in employees of a textile mill in Manchester. Since then, there have been 11 cases of naturally occurring anthrax in the United States.
In 2001, letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to journalists and two U.S. senators in the weeks following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. At least four people, including two postal workers and a photo editor, died from exposure to those letters, and more than a dozen others became ill.
And not that it made any more sense.
But it didn't sound like a act of terrorism.
And that is a good start.
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