MrJim911
10-12-2001, 16:58
NEW YORK (AP) - An assistant to NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw contracted the skin form of anthrax after opening an envelope containing a suspicious powder that was sent to her boss two weeks after the terrorist attacks, authorities said Friday.
Officials quickly said there was no known link to either the Sept. 11 attacks or the far more serious inhaled form of anthrax that killed a supermarket tabloid editor in Florida last week. The NBC employee was expected to recover.
But a federal criminal investigation was launched to find the source of the anthrax, and health officials scrambled to re-test powder to see if contained the germ. Initial tests on a small sample had been negative.
The case sent a chill through a city still reeling from the World Trade Center disaster. News organizations across the country shored up mailroom security. And the postmaster general advised everyone to watch for suspicious letters and packages.
President Bush (news - web sites) said the government was doing all it could to protect the public.
``The American people need to go about their lives. We cannot let terrorists lock our country down,'' Bush said, addressing the anthrax case at a White House event celebrating Hispanic heritage. ``They will not take this country down.''
The anthrax case - the nation's fourth in a week - was reported early Friday by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites) after tests were completed on a skin sample from the victim. Further tests are under way.
``The amount we got was so small we are very being cautious about interpreting,'' CDC Deputy Director David Fleming said.
The CDC said it is possible the NBC employee was contaminated by something other than the envelope.
NBC employees were evacuated from part of the 70-story GE Building in Rockefeller Center, which is home to Brokaw's ``Nightly News,'' ``Saturday Night Live (news - Y! TV)'' and ``Late Night with Conan O'Brien (news - Y! TV).''
The NBC employee who tested positive was a Brokaw assistant, NBC officials said on condition of anonymity. One official said that Brokaw, who has appeared on NBC's evening newscasts for the last 18 years, was being tested for anthrax.
``Living in New York and working in this building for this company, you're already on edge,'' said Brian Rolapp, 29, a business development manager for NBC. ``I think everyone is a little startled that it's this close to home.''
A few blocks away, near Times Square, two floors of The New York Times building were cleared Friday after Judith Miller, a reporter who co-wrote a recent best seller on bioterrorism, opened a letter containing a powdery substance a spokeswoman said smelled like talcum powder.
Executive Editor Howell Raines said initial tests indicated that the powder did not pose any immediate problem. Air tests for radioactive and chemical substances were negative.
The Associated Press, located across the street from NBC, temporarily closed its mailroom, as did CBS. ABC halted internal mail delivery in New York and Washington pending a security evaluation, while CNN said it had closed its mailrooms in New York, Washington and Atlanta.
Time Inc. and Newsweek suspended mail delivery in their New York headquarters. The Wall Street Journal advised employees worldwide not to open packages or letters that are not specifically addressed to them.
The skin and inhaled forms of anthrax are caused by the same bacterium. The only difference is whether the microscopic spores enter the skin through a cut or are inhaled into the lungs. It takes more than 8,000 spores to cause the inhalation form of anthrax. Neither form can be spread directly from person to person.
When caught through the skin, anthrax is a much less serious disease. The first symptoms are reddish-black sores on the skin. If the disease is caught at that point and treated with antibiotics, it is easily cured. Even without treatment, cutaneous anthrax is fatal in only one case out of 20.
Dr. Scott Lillibridge, the bioterrorism chief for the U.S. Health and Human Services (news - web sites) Department, said the NBC employee is believed to have handled the envelope on Sept. 25. Three days later, she noticed a dark-colored lesion, Lillibridge said, and on Oct. 1 began taking the antibiotic Cipro for another infection.
When the lesion started developing characteristics of anthrax, ``a very alert and astute clinician'' ordered skin tests, Fleming said. The results came back Friday.
NBC said it had immediately contacted the FBI (news - web sites), the CDC and the New York Department of Health after the envelope arrived.
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (news - web sites) said all network employees exposed to the powder will be tested for anthrax and treated with Cipro.
``People should not overreact to this,'' Giuliani said. ``Much of this is being done to allay people's fears.''
Last Friday, a photo editor for The Sun supermarket tabloid in Boca Raton, Fla., died of the more serious inhaled form of anthrax. The American Media building where Bob Stevens, 63, worked was sealed off after anthrax was found on his keyboard.
Traces of anthrax were later found in the mailroom. Two other employees turned out to have anthrax in their nasal passages, but neither has developed the disease. Both are taking antibiotics, and one has returned to work.
In Florida, FBI agent Hector Pesquera said test results of 965 people who were in the building recently found no new infections. A few test results were still pending. Pesquera said investigators are still trying to determine how the anthrax got into the building.
Investigators also tested 15 clerks who worked in the South Florida post office that handled American Media's mail, a union official said.
Separately, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said Friday that the Bush administration planned to ask Congress for $643 million to expand the nation's capability to handle biological attacks.
The money will be used to increase stockpiles of pharmaceutical drugs and anthrax antibiotics, as well as to strengthen health systems throughout the country, Thompson told newspaper editors in Wisconsin via video from Washington.
Officials quickly said there was no known link to either the Sept. 11 attacks or the far more serious inhaled form of anthrax that killed a supermarket tabloid editor in Florida last week. The NBC employee was expected to recover.
But a federal criminal investigation was launched to find the source of the anthrax, and health officials scrambled to re-test powder to see if contained the germ. Initial tests on a small sample had been negative.
The case sent a chill through a city still reeling from the World Trade Center disaster. News organizations across the country shored up mailroom security. And the postmaster general advised everyone to watch for suspicious letters and packages.
President Bush (news - web sites) said the government was doing all it could to protect the public.
``The American people need to go about their lives. We cannot let terrorists lock our country down,'' Bush said, addressing the anthrax case at a White House event celebrating Hispanic heritage. ``They will not take this country down.''
The anthrax case - the nation's fourth in a week - was reported early Friday by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites) after tests were completed on a skin sample from the victim. Further tests are under way.
``The amount we got was so small we are very being cautious about interpreting,'' CDC Deputy Director David Fleming said.
The CDC said it is possible the NBC employee was contaminated by something other than the envelope.
NBC employees were evacuated from part of the 70-story GE Building in Rockefeller Center, which is home to Brokaw's ``Nightly News,'' ``Saturday Night Live (news - Y! TV)'' and ``Late Night with Conan O'Brien (news - Y! TV).''
The NBC employee who tested positive was a Brokaw assistant, NBC officials said on condition of anonymity. One official said that Brokaw, who has appeared on NBC's evening newscasts for the last 18 years, was being tested for anthrax.
``Living in New York and working in this building for this company, you're already on edge,'' said Brian Rolapp, 29, a business development manager for NBC. ``I think everyone is a little startled that it's this close to home.''
A few blocks away, near Times Square, two floors of The New York Times building were cleared Friday after Judith Miller, a reporter who co-wrote a recent best seller on bioterrorism, opened a letter containing a powdery substance a spokeswoman said smelled like talcum powder.
Executive Editor Howell Raines said initial tests indicated that the powder did not pose any immediate problem. Air tests for radioactive and chemical substances were negative.
The Associated Press, located across the street from NBC, temporarily closed its mailroom, as did CBS. ABC halted internal mail delivery in New York and Washington pending a security evaluation, while CNN said it had closed its mailrooms in New York, Washington and Atlanta.
Time Inc. and Newsweek suspended mail delivery in their New York headquarters. The Wall Street Journal advised employees worldwide not to open packages or letters that are not specifically addressed to them.
The skin and inhaled forms of anthrax are caused by the same bacterium. The only difference is whether the microscopic spores enter the skin through a cut or are inhaled into the lungs. It takes more than 8,000 spores to cause the inhalation form of anthrax. Neither form can be spread directly from person to person.
When caught through the skin, anthrax is a much less serious disease. The first symptoms are reddish-black sores on the skin. If the disease is caught at that point and treated with antibiotics, it is easily cured. Even without treatment, cutaneous anthrax is fatal in only one case out of 20.
Dr. Scott Lillibridge, the bioterrorism chief for the U.S. Health and Human Services (news - web sites) Department, said the NBC employee is believed to have handled the envelope on Sept. 25. Three days later, she noticed a dark-colored lesion, Lillibridge said, and on Oct. 1 began taking the antibiotic Cipro for another infection.
When the lesion started developing characteristics of anthrax, ``a very alert and astute clinician'' ordered skin tests, Fleming said. The results came back Friday.
NBC said it had immediately contacted the FBI (news - web sites), the CDC and the New York Department of Health after the envelope arrived.
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (news - web sites) said all network employees exposed to the powder will be tested for anthrax and treated with Cipro.
``People should not overreact to this,'' Giuliani said. ``Much of this is being done to allay people's fears.''
Last Friday, a photo editor for The Sun supermarket tabloid in Boca Raton, Fla., died of the more serious inhaled form of anthrax. The American Media building where Bob Stevens, 63, worked was sealed off after anthrax was found on his keyboard.
Traces of anthrax were later found in the mailroom. Two other employees turned out to have anthrax in their nasal passages, but neither has developed the disease. Both are taking antibiotics, and one has returned to work.
In Florida, FBI agent Hector Pesquera said test results of 965 people who were in the building recently found no new infections. A few test results were still pending. Pesquera said investigators are still trying to determine how the anthrax got into the building.
Investigators also tested 15 clerks who worked in the South Florida post office that handled American Media's mail, a union official said.
Separately, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said Friday that the Bush administration planned to ask Congress for $643 million to expand the nation's capability to handle biological attacks.
The money will be used to increase stockpiles of pharmaceutical drugs and anthrax antibiotics, as well as to strengthen health systems throughout the country, Thompson told newspaper editors in Wisconsin via video from Washington.