Posted on 01/15/2003 1:26:11 AM PST by JohnHuang2
Edited on 01/15/2003 1:36:25 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
WASHINGTON, Jan 14, 2003 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- Anthrax has been detected at the mail processing facility for the Federal Reserve Board, and U.S. Postal Service officials said late on Tuesday they are testing one of their facilities in Washington for the presence of the deadly bacteria.
There is no evidence that USPS or Federal Reserve workers were exposed to anthrax, officials stressed.
Initial tests on a letter in the mail handling facility for the Fed "indicated the possible presence of anthrax" on Jan. 3, Dave Skidmore, a spokesman for the Federal Reserve Board, told United Press International.
The mail handling facility is a large trailer adjacent to the Fed's headquarters in Washington.
Results of further testing came back Tuesday and confirmed the presence of anthrax, Skidmore said."So this will be sent on to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta for further testing," he said. He was uncertain when the CDC will complete the tests.
CDC officials said the Fed had not told them about the positive anthrax tests. "We have not as of yet been contacted to test any samples," CDC spokeswoman Karen Hunter told UPI. She added: "We are aware of it (from media reports) and are looking into it."
The USPS said it is taking the precaution of testing for anthrax at its V Street facility in Washington, which processes mail that goes to the Fed.
"We want to emphasize that we have no evidence of contamination and no evidence of a health risk to any worker," Thomas Day, vice president for engineering at the Postal Service, said in a written statement.
"The Postal Service is conducting the tests out of an abundance of caution ... There is no evidence of any contamination at the facility," Day said.
There also is no indication that Fed staff were exposed, and no workers have been started on Cipro or other precautionary antibiotics to prevent anthrax infection, Skidmore said.
Mail handlers at the Fed's facility "are suited in protective suits" and "we've had no indication of the presence of anthrax in our main building," he said.
"The letter was not a suspicious letter that would've fit the profile of previous anthrax letters," Skidmore said.
The batch of mail that contained the anthrax letter has been quarantined, and new incoming mail continues to be processed and distributed in a back-up facility, he said.
Since the letters were found to contain anthrax in 2001, the Fed has "routinely tested its incoming mail for the presence of anthrax," Skidmore said. Twice before -- in December 2001 and May 2002 -- letters initially tested positive for anthrax.
But "in those cases, we did not have any further positive tests," he said.
By STEVE MITCHELL, UPI Medical Correspondent
Copyright 2003 by United Press International.
More interesting, is this :
"The letter was not a suspicious letter that would've fit the profile of previous anthrax letters," Skidmore said.
I'm just guessing but I would say the person who addressed it either typed the labels or addresses, or wrote them out by hand like an adult to insure the letter wouldn't look unusual, instead of the previous style where the lines were strongly tilted as if written by a juvenile.
Since they said "profile" and not "contents" differed, I wonder if this means the letter was intentionally filled with anthrax but was superficially different in appearance, and not merely that this is an accidental contamination of an otherwise legitimate legal letter?
If this is a message it could be to make it clear that there are an unknown number of people ready to do the mailing or ready to use anthrax. Of course, it could still be the same person who has simply changed tactics, or a second person sent because the first has already been caught in the dragnet for some other offense.
I wonder if the contents of the letter are more interesting?
The freeper The Great Satan, if I recall correctly, posted this tidbit from Bob Woodward's book (which I haven't read) not long ago- obviously before they discovered that the accidental dampness in one of the letters made the stuff look less refined than it actually was:
2002 (ANTHRAX INVESTIGATION): (snip)They turned to the hot topic of anthrax. The powder in the letter mailed to Senator Daschle's office had been found to be potent, prompting officials to suggest its source was likely an expert capable of producing the bacteria in huge amounts. Tenet said, "I think it's AQ -- meaning Al Qaeda."
"I think there's a state sponsor involved. It's too well thought-out, the powder's too well refined. It might be Iraq, it might be Russia, it might be a renegade scientist, perhaps from Iraq or Russia."
"I'm not going to talk about a state sponsor." Tenet assured them.
"It's good that we don't." said Cheney, "because we're not ready to do anything about it."
- Bob Woodward, Bush at War (2002), pp. 248-249.
Initial tests on a letter in the mail handling facility for the Fed "indicated the possible presence of anthrax" on Jan. 3, (snip)Results of further testing came back Tuesday[Jan 14] and confirmed the presence of anthrax, Skidmore said."So this will be sent on to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta for further testing," he said. He was uncertain when the CDC will complete the tests.
CDC officials said the Fed had not told them about the positive anthrax tests. "We have not as of yet been contacted to test any samples," CDC spokeswoman Karen Hunter told UPI. She added: "We are aware of it (from media reports) and are looking into it."
More word parsing and hedging. Considering there must be a chain of custody here, I feel certain the FBI is hand-carrying the sample. So, the question in my mind is where would the sample go? To the CDC in Atlanta or over to Ft. Detrick? I'm betting Ft. Detrick already tested it, which is why the CDC hasn't been "contacted to test any samples". They already know what they have.
Also, this is a little thing, I admit: Bush's apparent anger yesterday was not off-the-cuff. It was both a message to Hussein and a warning to us. I don't think he would have done it if we didn't think we could pre-empt the attack. Just my opinion (which is always subject to change :)
Positive Test for Anthrax
New York Times - 6 hours ago
14 Postal officials evacuated a sorting center today after routine tests for anthrax
in mail destined for the Federal Reserve showed a preliminary positive ...
Postal Service Reports New Anthrax Scare in DC - Reuters
Postal Service Reports New Anthrax Scare in DC - Reuters
DC Post Office Testing for Anthrax - Austin American Statesman
ABC News - Yahoo News - and more »
It wasn't just what he said--it was also his tone of voice, which was definately irate (though not ranting or shouting). Basically, he said we've given Saddam one last chance to disarm; that he was sick and tired of his games and deception; and that Saddam's time was running out. IOW, the impression I got was that he had no intention of extending any more deadlines, no matter what the UN does.
I'm sure his remarks are accurately recorded somewhere on FR. I'll ping you when I come across them.
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