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Postal Service tests facility for anthraxPossible bacteria found in Federal Reserve sample
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Postal Service began testing for anthrax at one of its Washington facilities after the Federal Reserve said its own testing of mail had indicated the potential presence of the bacteria, a postal official said Tuesday. Tom Day, vice president for engineering at the Postal Service, emphasized that the tests were being performed "out of an abundance of caution" and said there is no evidence of anthrax contamination or any health risk to postal workers or the public. Results of the tests are expected early Wednesday, he said. It is not clear whether the possible anthrax might have come from a letter or any other piece of mail, Day said, though the sample was "generally gathered" from the mail processed at a government-only mail facility in the District of Columbia. "This is a facility that has the specific purpose of sorting the mail destinating to the 202 through 205 ZIP code range -- the federal government here in the District," he said. The suspect mail did not enter the Federal Reserve system, Day said. He also said that all suspect government mail is irradiated. "There's absolutely nothing that indicates we have a contamination problem here," Day said. Officials decided to announce the tests because technicians performing them will enter the building wearing hazardous material suits, and they feared the sight could fuel a panic. Day said false positives in preliminary tests are common and that the Federal Reserve has recorded false positives on previous anthrax tests. "We believe that in the end, we're going to have an event that's really going to become a nonevent," Day said. "But when you get a lab result that gives you a preliminary positive, you got to take that seriously." Employees restrictedWhile testing is under way Tuesday evening, postal employees will stay out of the V Street postal-processing facility. Day said a laboratory in North Carolina performed the test that gave a preliminary positive result on the Federal Reserve mail. "We don't know numbers of spores, strain of anthrax, or even, quite honestly -- it's not a fully confirmed anthrax sample," Day said. "It's a preliminary positive, but we haven't fully categorized exactly what it is, let alone the full amount." Testing of 30-50 samples from the V Street facility will be conducted at the postal office's laboratory at its Brentwood facility. One test will involve a polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which allows scientists to identify a bacteria or virus from its DNA. Getting results is a matter of hours. A second anthrax test will involve collecting wet swabs from sites within the V Street facility where the Federal Reserve mail is handled and sending them to a laboratory, a process that takes days. Two employees from the Brentwood facility in Northeast Washington died from the inhalation form of anthrax in fall 2001 after that facility processed at least one anthrax-laced letter sent to lawmakers on Capitol Hill. The facility was closed, and the Postal Service set up a PCR lab there as part of the cleanup process. Cleanup is ahead of schedule, and officials have predicted the facility will reopen this spring. The federal government and media outlets were targets of anthrax-laced mail in late 2001. Five people, including the two postal employees, died after inhaling anthrax spores. No one has been arrested. The FBI has said the person who mailed the letters is likely a skilled scientist living in the United States who has access to a lab or sophisticated equipment.
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