Inspectors found more of the deadly bacterium anthrax in a US Senate office building yesterday, as the postal service prepared to issue masks and gloves for its 800,000 employees and was testing ways to sterilize the nation's mail.
Postmaster-General John Powers warned that the postal service could not guarantee the safety of the mails and that people should wash their hands after handling a letter or package.
Police said Wednesday night that anthrax spores were found on a first-floor freight elevator bank in the Hart Senate Office Building, the same building where an anthrax-tainted letter addressed to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle was opened.
Since the anthrax-by-mail crisis began, there have been six cases of inhalation anthrax, the most serious form of the disease. Two postal workers in Washington and a tabloid photo editor in Florida have died.
A story in yesterday's edition of The Washington Post quoted government sources as saying the anthrax that contaminated Daschle's office may have been made in America.
The story said the anthrax was treated with a chemical additive made only in the US, the former Soviet Union and Iraq. It quoted an unnamed source as saying that "the totality of the evidence in hand" suggests it was unlikely to have come from the former Soviet Union or Iraq.
There are 15 patients in the Washington area with symptoms suggestive of anthrax and all maybe linked to a letter sent to Daschle and handled in mail facilities from Trenton, New Jersey to Capitol Hill. However, investigators have not ruled out the possibility there was other anthrax-laced mail that has not been found.
Six cases of skin anthrax, a less dangerous form of the disease, have been diagnosed and there is a suspected case reported at the New York Post newspaper. These mostly are connected to mail sent to TV networks or to newspapers.
Officials said a female employee of an electronic news organization being treated for possible inhalation anthrax was outside Daschle's office the day the tainted letter was received -- the first time they have said a possible case of inhalation anthrax may have come from exposure inside the Capitol complex.
Surgeon-General David Satcher admitted Wednesday "we were wrong" not to respond more aggressively to tainted mail in the nation's capital.
Postal service vice president Deborah Willhite said postal workers in Washington, New York and Trenton, New Jersey -- all sites where anthrax-tainted mail was handled -- have been offered masks and gloves of a type recommended by the Centers of Disease Control. The protective coverings will be offered to all 800,000 postal workers by the end of the week on an "optional, not mandatory" basis, said Willhite.
She also said the postal service was experimenting with ways to cleanse the nation's mail.
"Tractor trailers of mail are to be sanitized," said Willhite in tests to determine the best way to kill any dangerous organisms contained in letters or packages.
Senator Bill Frist, a surgeon before becoming a senator, said the sophistication required to process the anthrax spores used in the postal attacks suggested that "more than a casual scientist is involved."
Centers of Disease Control Director Jeffrey Koplan made a similar point in a television interview. "I think that whoever did this is displaying some level of sophistication in everything from microbiology to psychology and sociology and a range of other issues," Koplan said on PBS' The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College