A recent report has revealed that drum circles may pose health risks to participants.
This feature draws attention to the case of a young woman from New Hampshire who became seriously ill and subsequently tested positive for anthrax following hospitalization due to severe flu-like symptoms, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps.
It was determined that the woman had contracted the harmful bacteria after participating in a drum circle—where a group of people gathers to play drums together—just a week before her hospital admission.
Allegedly, multiple drums used in the gathering were made from animal skins, a detail unknown to the cheerful percussionists, which contained thriving colonies of anthrax spores.
The bacteria were identified on the surfaces of two drums, and it is believed that spores transferred to food consumed by the infected woman.
A similar incident occurred in 2007 when two drummers became infected with anthrax after acquiring goat hides from Guinea, which they planned to fashion into tom-tom drums.
Although one would expect the worst outcome from such a drum circle experience to be a nostalgic headache, this woman instead faced serious illness and spent two months in the hospital.
At last, there’s a scientific basis for disliking drum circles.
by David Livingstone
