Billions Needed to Quell Anthrax Outbreaks
Potter broke the news that more funds would be required to safeguard mail deliveries at a Senate committee meeting, where Senators pressed him about U.S. Postal Service’s response to the bioterrorist attacks.
The news comes as two more post offices, one in the Friendship Heights district of Washington and one in the D.C. suburb of Dulles, Va., were closed because traces of the bacteria were discovered there, news services said.
It is the second straight day that anthrax has been discovered at new locations.
Federal officials said Monday that anthrax spores were found in more government buildings including the Department of Health and Human Services, the building that houses the Food and Drug Administration and Voice of America, as well as in several mailrooms at the State Department. Spores were also found in a mail pouch bound for the U.S. embassy in Peru, Reuters said.
Chemical tests on the anthrax sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) showed traces of
ilica, a common substance used to prevent powders from clumping, news services said.
In meeting with reporters, Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) said that the letter sent to Daschle contained billions of the deadly spores. Scientists say that it only takes 8,000 to 10,000 of the spores to cause a case of the deadly inhaled version of the disease, the Associated Press said.
The letter sent to the Senator's office was printed on paper that is more porous than the other known tainted letters. Officials suspect that the letter sent to Daschle is wholly or partly responsible for the number of reported traces of anthrax in the Washington, D.C. area
To date, more than a dozen federal buildings have been partially or entire closed for testing and decontamination, the AP said.
Daschle told reporters that the Hart Senate Office building, where he and nearly 50 colleagues have their offices will be closed until mid-November for decontamination with chlorine dioxide gas, news services said.
Senate officials began looking for alternate meeting sites at hotels in the Washington area in case they need to evacuate for decontamination, according to AP.
With all the suspected cases being discovered, health officials are trying to assure the public that their mail is safe. Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health told NBC's Today show that there have been no cases of individuals contracting anthrax in their homes, only bulk mail facilities that have been victims of secondary anthrax exposure.
Despite these assurances, some investigators are looking into alternate anthrax delivery systems as two people not connected with the mail or the media have possibly contracted the bacteria. A 61-year-old woman is "fighting for her life" news services said, after possibly being exposed at the Manhattan Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital. Also a New Jersey woman has contracted the less serious skin disease, Bloomberg reported.
A new case of a Baltimore postal worker is being monitored as another possible case of inhaled anthrax.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed 15 anthrax infections. That includes eight cases of the deadly inhalation anthrax. Tests are still outstanding on additional five cases on suspected anthrax, but only one is thought to be inhaled, Bloomberg said.
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