Postal worker, once near death from anthrax, leaves hospital

Inhalation anthrax survivor Norma Wallace

(CNN) -- A New Jersey postal worker who contracted inhalation anthrax was released from the hospital Monday, and she delivered a message of hope for Americans shaken by the bioterrorism mystery that has infected 17 people with the bacteria.

"Even though we have been confronted by a deadly disease, there is recovery, there is hope," said Norma Wallace at a news conference at Virtua-Memorial Hospital. "We don't have to succumb to it. We can fight together. We can stand together."

Wallace, who spent 18 days in the hospital and was near death at one point, left with her adult children and other family members.

A new CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll finds only 1 in 10 Americans are very fearful that a member of their family will fall victim to anthrax. Almost two-thirds are not at all worried that a family member would be exposed to anthrax.

Of the 17 people who have been infected with anthrax, four have died of inhalation anthrax and six more are battling that form of the disease. Seven other people have been diagnosed with cutaneous anthrax.

Wallace was a mail handler at Trenton's postal distribution center in Hamilton Township, where three anthrax-laced letters are believed to have been processed. All three -- two to New York media offices and one to Senate Majority leader Tom Daschle in Washington -- were postmarked in Trenton.

Anthrax by the numbers 17 total anthrax infections   • 10 cases inhalation anthrax (4 dead)   • 7 cases cutaneous anthrax Source: CDC/CNN  IN-DEPTH  VIDEO/AUDIO   •  Investigators baffled by 94-year-old woman's death  MORE STORIES   •  Gephardt: Anthrax cleanup 'tougher than expected'   •  Official: CIA uses anthrax, but no link to letters  EXTRA INFORMATION   •  Anthrax symptoms   •  Tracking the bacteria  RESOURCES   •  Advice on suspicious packages   •  Message board  The latest news

Latest developments

• Investigators are looking at a few mail routes in West Trenton, New Jersey, where the three letters may have been mailed, a U.S. Postal Inspection Service spokeswoman said Monday.

• The West Trenton postal facility was due to reopen Tuesday, but the Hamilton Township processing center remained closed. A post office in Princeton, New Jersey, resumed operations Monday.

• A State Department mail handler infected with inhalation anthrax is out of intensive care and "improving steadily" but is still hospitalized, department spokesman Richard Boucher said Monday.

• A civilian post office within the Pentagon complex was closed after the discovery of anthrax traces over the weekend. Six employees who work at the branch are on Cipro, an antibiotic used to treat anthrax, as a precaution. Authorities are notifying those who rent post office boxes at the site that there had been contamination.

The facility does not process mail for the Pentagon but did receive mail from the Brentwood mail-processing center in Washington. Two employees from the Brentwood facility -- which processed the anthrax-laden letter sent to Daschle -- died of inhalation anthrax, and two others are hospitalized with the same form of the disease.

• Crews were scheduled Monday evening to start decontaminating targeted areas of the Hart Senate Office Building, which houses Daschle's office. Instead of pumping the whole building full of chlorine gas, workers will follow new recommendations from the Environmental Protection Agency while officials take another look at how to clean the rest of the building. Meanwhile, the Longworth House Office Building -- closed since October 26 when inspectors found traces of anthrax in three offices -- reopened Monday except for the three contaminated offices. (Full story)

• Postal inspectors are expected early this week to begin going through some of the thousands of letters that have been decontaminated to see if any are similar to the three anthrax-tainted letters. Letters from the tainted Brentwood facility are back in Washington after being sent to Lima, Ohio, for decontamination.

• The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, announced Monday the development of a test that indicates the presence of anthrax-contaminated blood within an hour instead of days. Researchers used the test only in a laboratory setting and have not tried the test on people infected with the bacteria. (Full story)

• Results of tests performed in the mailroom of the Department of Health and Human Services indicate there is no anthrax contamination, according to department and Voice of America officials.

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has vaccinated about 140 members of teams that can be summoned at a moment's notice to examine a suspected smallpox case anywhere in the country. Officials said they have no evidence that anyone is readying a terror attack using smallpox, but said the steps are necessary to prepare for any attack. Smallpox would be an especially lethal weapon because it is contagious and has a high death rate.

• Treasury Department officials expect to receive results Tuesday of environmental testing for anthrax at an offsite mail facility, a senior Treasury Department official told CNN. The facility was closed Friday night after an employee discovered a suspicious letter with unusual handwriting on it and a postmark from Trenton, New Jersey.