31 Senate Staffers Exposed to Anthrax, New Infection at CBS

The nation's fears about anthrax contamination heightened yesterday with news that initial nasal-swab tests show 31 Senate employees have been exposed to the bacteria and anthrax spores were discovered in the Manhattan office of New York Gov. George Pataki (R), the Wall Street Journal reports (Rogers/Fatis, Wall Street Journal, 10/18). In addition, a CBS employee in New York has tested positive for cutaneous anthrax, the same form of anthrax that infected an NBC employee (AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/18).

The 31 Senate workers were exposed and tested on Monday after an aide to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) opened a tainted letter. Another 155 Senate employees have tested negative for anthrax exposure; test results will be available later today on another 1,400 Capitol Hill employees (Wall Street Journal, 10/18). A person is considered exposed to anthrax when one or more spores are detected on his or her body. After an initial test, a person's blood must also be tested to determine whether an infection has occurred. If caught before symptoms appear, anthrax disease "can often be cured," the Philadelphia Inquirer reports (Merzer et al., Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/18). Daschle said, "There is absolutely no evidence of infection at this point" among the Capitol Hill workers (Purdum/Mitchell, New York Times, 10/18). Despite no known anthrax infections, many Capitol workers began taking antibiotics. HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson said yesterday that 1,200 bottles of Cipro had been sent to the Senate (Hook et al., Los Angeles Times, 10/18). All six House and Senate office buildings will be closed until Sunday to allow investigators to search for anthrax spores. The House has adjourned for several days and its chamber will be closed; the Senate, however, remains in session and its chamber will stay open (Boyer/Hudson, Washington Times, 10/18).

Officials yesterday said that the anthrax strain sent to Daschle's office is a "common strain that responds readily to antibiotics," but "reiterated" that the strain probably was "produced in a sophisticated manner." Scott Lillibridge, an HHS expert on bioterrorism, said, "There's been some attempt to collect it, perhaps refine it and perhaps make it more concentrated. That seems certain." However, authorities were reluctant to say that the strain was "weapons-grade," which means the anthrax has been processed to keep it from clumping and to make the spores a small size to improve the chance that they are inhaled. Inhalation, or pulmonary anthrax is the most deadly form of the disease (Lancaster/Schmidt, Washington Post, 10/18). Daschle said, "In all the briefings in which I have been in attendance, not once has anyone used the term 'weapons-grade'" (Kiely/Lee, USA Today, 10/18). Lillibridge said that it might be "some time" before investigators know whether the Daschle strain was "weaponized" (Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/18).

After a secretary "voiced concerns about suspicious mail," investigators preliminarily have confirmed the presence of anthrax in Pataki's office on a "hard surface in a secured room used by state police." The Journal reports that investigators do not believe the piece of mail is the source of anthrax in the office (Wall Street Journal, 10/18). New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik said because there were only small levels of anthrax found, it is "very possible" that the spores were brought into the office by state police, who earlier this week escorted Pataki to ABC and NBC offices, where anthrax presence was suspected. Pataki, who is taking Cipro, said he does not plan to be tested for anthrax, adding, "I honestly believe that the likelihood of any contamination is very slim" (Lipton, New York Times, 10/18). Eighty Pataki employees are also taking Cipro (Albany Times Union, 10/18). But Pataki said that "there is no indication in any individual of anthrax" (Los Angeles Times, 10/18). Also in New York, CBS said its exposed employee, who works in anchor Dan Rather's office, was being treated with antibiotics and is expected to recover fully. Network officials said they were discussing "next steps" with the mayor, police commissioner and health department (AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/18). In the United States, the number of people with anthrax exposure is now 46. Of those one Florida man has died; another Florida man has inhalation anthrax infection and three New York residents have cutaneous anthrax infections (Washington Post, 10/18). Overseas, Sam Ongeri, the health minister of Kenya, said that a letter postmarked from Atlanta that was sent to an unidentified businessman in Nairobi had tested positive for anthrax. He added that two other "suspect" letters were undergoing testing (Reuters/Contra Costa Times, 10/18).

CDC investigators announced yesterday that they have matched the anthrax strain in the Florida case to the strain sent to NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, a finding that could indicate the same person or group is responsible for both cases. The CDC has not yet finished testing the strain sent to Daschle (Wall Street Journal, 10/18). The matching strain finding "could prove of limited value, especially if it turns out to be a strain that thousands of research labs around the world already have," USA Today reports (Johnson/Parker, USA Today, 10/18). Elisa Harris, a former Clinton administration employee who worked on biological warfare issues, said if the strain is common, it would "be an almost impossible detective job" to trace its source. On the other hand, the identity of the strain could be useful in the investigation if it "had been seen before in a very narrow part of the world" (Pincus/Weiss, Washington Post, 10/18). The CDC reportedly has typed the strain used in the Florida case, but has not yet released the results. The Journal reports that anthrax experts said there are "three leading candidate strains" -- one produced in a lab in Ames, Iowa; the Vollum strain, which was produced in Great Britain and the New Hampshire strain (Regalado/Chase, Wall Street Journal, 10/18).

On yesterday's PBS "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" health correspondent Susan Dentzer reported on the Capitol Hill anthrax case, and senior correspondent Ray Suarez interviewed Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Those transcripts are available at http://www.pbs.org/newshour/. In addition, CDC Director Jeffrey Koplan, Pataki, House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.), Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) all appeared on CNN's "Larry King Live" to talk about the anthrax incidents. That transcript is available at http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/17/lkl.00.html. For a basic understanding of how anthrax works, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12359-2001Oct17.html.