chicken little here
Anthrax Infects NJ Postal Worker
By John P. McAlpin
Associated Press Writer
Thursday, Oct. 18, 2001; 12:45 p.m. EDT
TRENTON, N.J. –– A postal worker who may have handled letters sent to NBC and the U.S. Senate has tested positive for exposure to anthrax, The Associated Press has learned.
The employee is a mail handler who was on duty at the time the letters were sent through the main Trenton postal center in Hamilton Township, state officials told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Acting Gov. Donald DiFrancesco and federal officials planned an afternoon news conference to announce details, the sources said.
A second New Jersey postal employee, a maintenance worker, was also being tested for exposure, postal officials have said.
Operations at the post office were shut down Thursday. The facility collects mail from 46 postal offices in central New Jersey.
Letters postmarked from Trenton and sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and NBC anchor Tom Brokaw tested positive for anthrax.
An aide to Brokaw, along with a police officer and two lab technicians, were exposed to anthrax. More than 30 workers in Daschle's Senate office were exposed. All are being treated with Cipro.
Postal officials have been examining video surveillance tapes to try to determine the source of the letters. They are also examining the envelopes for clues; both envelopes were pre-stamped.
Officials are also examining the black-and-white striped computer lines that route the mail. The bar codes give a date and approximate time the letters were processed, Postal Inspector Tony Esposito has said. Other information from the bar codes eliminated many of the post offices from the search, he said.
Meanwhile, federal officials questioned at least two New Jersey pharmacists about anyone buying large amounts of the antibiotic Cipro prior to Sept. 18, when the first of the two tainted envelopes was mailed.
Pharmacist John Berkenkopf, who owns Episcopo's Pharmacy in Trenton, said officials with the Food and Drug Administration questioned him Wednesday about anyone who 60 to 120 tablets of the antibiotic.
Cipro is usually prescribed for 7-14 days, which is about 10 or 20 pills, Berenkopf said.
"Any more than that would ring all kinds of bells," Berkenkopf said.
Special Agent Sandra Carroll, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Newark office, would not say whether any pharmacies had reported making large sales of the drug.
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like I've said it doen't have to be deadly to be effective...
on a more humorous note, does anyone else think of this guy everytime anthrax is mentioned:
"AFLAC"[ 10-18-2001: Message edited by: Eagler ]
