New twist in anthrax case - BBC News - 'Anthrax found' in Pentagon mail

[mikelewis]

Two stories of interest from the BBC
'Anthrax found' in Pentagon mail
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4352383.stm

An investigation is under way after tests on mail at sorting facilities for the US defence department detected signs of the deadly anthrax bacteria.

The military mail centres were shut on Monday following the discovery and further tests are being carried out.

Officials say the affected mail had been irradiated, so they believe any bacteria would have been killed off.

A postal facility in Washington, where staff may have handled Pentagon mail, was also shut on Tuesday.


New twist in anthrax case
Excerpt:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3038818.stm

"Mr Hatfill is said to have helped develop the mobile plant while working for a leading contractor with the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency. The training plant's equipment, officials said, includes fermenting tools, a centrifuge and a mill for grinding clumps of anthrax into the best size for penetrating human lungs.

Dr Hatfill, who worked at the Army Medical Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick in the US state of Maryland before joining the contractor, began gathering parts for the unit in 2000. He also supervised its construction at a metalworking plant on the outskirts of the town of Frederick, where Fort Detrick is based, experts said.

In June, FBI officials drained several ponds in Frederick after equipment which could have been used in the anthrax attacks was found in one of the ponds. The finding led to a new theory - that the perpetrator assembled the laced letters in a watertight chamber to minimise risk to himself - but no arrests."


More BBC anthrax news stories

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2976458.stm

[mikelewis]

1. Tests end Pentagon anthrax scare

Anthrax tests at two US defence department mail sorting offices have proved negative, US officials say.

The scare had been set off a day earlier when initial tests detected signs of the deadly bacteria.

The two centres - and a mail handling facility in Washington - were shut and some 200 staff were given antibiotics.

AP reported that a sample of anthrax, which is kept for comparison purposes, may have got mixed up with the samples taken from the mail offices.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4352383.stm