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Summary of Anthrax Letters Cases

Story Filed: Monday, October 15, 2001 9:16 PM EDT

Public health officials have discovered anthrax in three states and the District of Columbia in the past two weeks. Tests indicate that at least 13 people either have anthrax or were exposed to the anthrax spores. One person has died.

So far, all of the anthrax appears to have been delivered in letters. Most were mailed inside the United States, but one sent to an office in Reno, Nev., came from Malaysia.

With four documented cases, countless hoaxes and rumors about connections to the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the story has many tentacles. Here is a state-by-state summary of the situation so far:

Florida:

Robert Stevens, photo editor of the Sun, died Oct. 5 from inhaling anthrax spores. Seven other employees of American Media Inc., publisher of the Sun and other supermarket tabloids, were exposed to anthrax, a fact determined through nasal swabs and blood tests on 400 employees. All 400 were put on antibiotics as a preventive measure.

State health officials confirmed Monday that one of the seven has the inhaled form of anthrax. Mailroom worker Ernesto Blanco, 73, has been treated for anthrax since he was hospitalized earlier this month for what was believed to be pneumonia.

Suspicions first centered on a piece of mail received about a week before the Sept. 11 attacks. It contained a love letter to Jennifer Lopez, a soapy powder and a Star of David charm.

The FBI has dismissed that letter as the source of the anthrax, and said the investigation indicates Stevens never handled that letter. No other potential sources have been found.

Tests also revealed anthrax on a computer keyboard that Stevens used.

On Monday, authorities found traces of anthrax in the Boca Raton post office that handles American Media's mail. Thirty employees who work in that mail sorting area were put on antibiotics, but initial nasal swabs did not indicate anthrax exposure.

New York:

Two letters sent to NBC News were tested when it was discovered that an assistant to news anchor Tom Brokaw had been exposed to anthrax. The assistant, Erin O'Connor, had the anthrax skin infection, which is rarely fatal and was being treated by antibiotics.

One of the letters was postmarked Sept. 18 from Trenton, N.J. When that one was opened, a sandy substance fell out and was brushed into a trash can.

The second letter was postmarked Sept. 20 from St. Petersburg, Fla. That one contained a powdery substance.

Tests determined that the letter from New Jersey contained anthrax, but the second letter did not. A second employee from NBC had symptoms of the skin form of anthrax, but has not tested positive for it.

A police detective and two health department lab technicians later tested positive for the bacteria after handling the letter. They were put on antibiotics.

Monday night, ABC News President David Westin said a child of an employee at ABC News has tested positive for the skin form of anthrax. The child is being treated with antibiotics and is expected to recover. The child had visited the ABC newsroom in New York in the last few weeks, probably Sept. 28, Westin said.

Nevada:

A state health department test Friday indicated the presence of anthrax in a mysterious letter containing pornographic pictures and mailed from Malaysia to a Microsoft office in Reno. The pictures appeared to have been soaked in a liquid. Also in the envelope was a check Microsoft had sent to a vendor in Malaysia.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta is conducting further tests on the material.

Six Microsoft employees who handled the mail have tested negative for anthrax exposure.

Washington, D.C.:

Field tests of a letter opened Monday by aides in Sen. Tom Daschle's office indicated the presence of anthrax. Like the NBC letter, it contained a powdery substance and was postmarked Sept. 18 in Trenton, N.J.

The letter and its contents were sent to the Army medical research facility at Fort Detrick, Md., for further testing. Those exposed were put on antibiotics.

New Jersey:

Postal inspectors announced Monday that a mail carrier and post office maintenance employee in Trenton, where at least two anthrax-tainted letters were mailed, have shown symptoms of the disease. The mail carrier, who has flu-like symptoms, has started taking antibiotics. The maintenance employee, who has a poison ivy-like rash, has not yet received treatment.

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001

Answers

BBC Monday, 15 October, 2001, 23:09 GMT 00:09 UK

Anthrax fears shake world In some cities, postal workers have donned masks

Confirmed cases of anthrax in the United States have sparked panic across an already jittery world, and encouraged hoaxers to make the most of mounting insecurity.

From Brussels to Bangkok, citizens have been warned to look out for suspicious packages or envelopes possibly containing the deadly substance, which has already claimed one life in the United States.

On Monday, the scare spread into the upper political echelons when a letter opened in the office of US Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle was discovered to contain anthrax.

German authorities meanwhile were testing a white powder found in the office post room of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who has wholeheartedly backed the US strikes on Afghanistan. But officials say they are expecting a false alarm.

In France, police evacuated hundreds of people and sent dozens off for medical tests after suspect powder was sent to addresses which included the French Space Agency and the College de France, a research institute.

In Switzerland, an employee at the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis is receiving precautionary medical treatment after he received a "suspicious letter" containing an unidentified powder.

There have also been other scares within the Americas.

The Argentine news agency Telam reported that at least a dozen people were hospitalised with eye irritation and respiratory complaints when white powder was found during the counting at polling stations in Buenos Aires province.

And in Canada, a section of the parliament building was evacuated and 35 employees rushed to a decontamination unit after an envelope containing powder was found.

'Practical jokers'

But it appears that white powder has been providing hoaxers with ample opportunity for bluffs.

In Australia, more than a dozen buildings - including US and British consulates - were evacuated in scares which now appear to be hoaxes.

Two dozen people underwent decontamination.

At the Vienna international airport in Austria there was another false alarm when a powder was discovered at an information desk.

The terminal was evacuated while the substance was analysed in a laboratory.

Six letters in Israel have been sent to laboratories, and sent back again after they tested negative.

But no sooner had they been returned, unidentified powder suspected to contain anthrax spores was found on an Israeli cargo plane.

In Belgium the authorities have already started drawing up tougher laws against hoaxers after a series of envelopes containing harmless white powder were delivered to various buildings, including private homes and banks.

"These practical jokers should know that they are going to face jail sentences," said Deputy Prime Minister Laurette Onkelinkx.

Heightened security

Despite the rash of false alarms, citizens are being told to keep their eyes open.

Security has been stepped up across Asia.

In Hong Kong the authorities have warned people to look out for suspicious letters or parcels, and not to open anything from obscure sources. Meanwhile in China checks have been ordered on suspicious mail.

Japan has tightened postal checks and urged its citizens to report all suspicious mail to the police.

Post offices are using x-ray machines to screen all international mail and parcels that have no return address, and at the central post office in Tokyo, workers have started wearing masks.

In South Korea all major public and private facilities in the capital - such as subway stations, cinemas, department stores - have been asked to hold at least one drill by November. They have been told to stock up on gas masks.

In Thailand and the Philippines, people have been advised to inspect their post carefully for stains or powder marks before opening.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Government has said it will co-operate fully with US investigations into a letter bearing a Malaysian postmark, containing anthrax, which was sent to an office of software giant Microsoft in Reno, Nevada.

But Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said he was still waiting for the US to display the evidence.

"They don't give us any information," he said. "Once we get the information, we will investigate."

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001