Can Anyone Solve the Anthrax Mystery?

Everyone has questions about anthrax, but no one seems to have any answers.

Another day of new anthrax cases and no apparent breaks in the case left officials frustrated and defensive. The government seemed to know little more than the general public about where the mail-borne anthrax bacteria might be originating, or who might be sending it.

In fact, after days of reassuring messages that anthrax was not an immediate threat, Tom Ridge, the new director of homeland security, said yesterday, "It is clear that the terrorists responsible for these attacks intended to use anthrax as a weapon."

By Friday afternoon, no branch of government was left untouched by the scare. The U.S. Supreme Court building closed for environmental testing after anthrax was found in the high court's remote mail facility. A State Department mail handler who does not work near any of the previously investigated sites has been hospitalized with pulmonary anthrax. The CIA announced that it had found a trace amount of anthrax in a mail-handling facility at its headquarters. Across the city, further environmental tests on congressional office buildings revealed more traces of anthrax. And in New York, scientists found anthrax on four letter-sorting machines at Manhattan's central mail-processing station.

Post office blues

Postal workers are, of course, at the center of the anthrax storm. Postal union members in two cities plan to file lawsuits against management; in New York, the workers are suing to close the Manhattan processing facility, where traces of anthrax were found on a sorting machine. In Florida, union members claim management did not respond adequately to workers' safety concerns after the first case of anthrax was diagnosed in Boca Raton.

Meanwhile, Washington, D.C. postal employees are fuming over what they see as the government's inexcusable lapse in safety procedures. The anthrax-contaminated Brentwood postal facility, workplace of the two postal workers who died from pulmonary anthrax, remained closed at the end of the week, designated a crime scene.

Now that the link between mail and anthrax has been firmly established, health officials say, the key is keeping the nation's postal workers safe — even while they continue to go about their suddenly hazardous jobs. Postal workers are in the trenches here at home. "The mail and our employees have become the target of terrorists," Postmaster General John Potter said. Representatives of the postal workers' union are considering various protective measures, including special gloves and masks, for those who handle mail. Potter insisted Wednesday that any danger to the general public was "slim," and argued against a temporary suspension of postal service, saying, "How would we get it started again? There's never any guarantee that there isn't anthrax anywhere."

MAKING THE MAIL SAFE AGAIN

There are two ways to kill anthrax bacteria lurking in letters and packages: Steam and irradiation. The Washington, D.C. area postal service is currently using irradiation to rid its mail of lingering bacteria, and officials are evaluating both methods for widespread use. o Steam: Mail would be placed under a 250-degree steam for 30 to 90 minutes. For efficiency’s sake, this process would require room-size steamers, which generally cost about $100,000. o Irradiation: Currently FDA-approved for use on meat, this process would kill off any dangerous bacteria by blasting mail with radioactive rays, much like an X-ray. Unsurprisingly, there is already a booming Internet market for personal germ warfare accoutrements: You can buy your very own Sterilizer online for the low, low price of just $2800 (plus shipping).

As the new cases came to light, the government appeared less and less capable of responding to questions and concerns. "We just don't know" is a disturbingly common refrain at press conferences as officials struggle to balance announcements of sweeping safety procedures — Washington D.C. mail is being irradiated and more than 10,000 people are now taking Cipro — with pleas for calm.

Of course, the national psyche is not helped by the fact that Bush administration officials have been sending out a lot of mixed signals over the past two weeks. First we were told the anthrax spores found in Senate Majority Leader Daschle's office were "weapons-grade." Days later, authorities backtracked, saying the bacteria appeared to be in a much cruder form than originally thought. Soon after that, two U.S. Postal Service workers were dead and several more were infected with the inhaled form of the disease — catastrophes linked, apparently, to the Daschle letter. Now, suddenly, we're back to "weapons-grade" anthrax.

Latest developments

An air filter at the mail facility serving the Supreme Court tested positive for anthrax Friday afternoon. The court building will close for the weekend; if it is not reopened on Monday, the Justices will continue their work at a local D.C. courthouse.

Post offices in Washington D.C. have begun irradiating mail; other sites are expected to follow suit.

A second suspected case of cutaneous anthrax surfaced at NBC news on Thursday.

INTERACTIVE GRAPHICS Map: Hunting Osama Map: Nukes Pipeline Interactive: Taliban P.O.W. Revolt More Graphics Tora Bora Nukes Pipeline Taliban Revolt Last Bastions Women & Islam No Refuge Taliban on the Run Afghan Caves Mood of the Nation Mazar-I-Sharif Terrorist Timeline Al-Qaeda Suspects Flu/Anthrax Sharing Secrets Al-Qaeda's World Ground War 11.4.01 Bush Team Grades Bioterror Threats War in Winter Workplace Safety Afghan Targets Anthrax Pathogen A Ground War An Uneasy Ally Targets Hit Search & Destroy Firepower & Food Frozen Assets Safety Guide Mideast Leaders Agents of Death Afghanistan Military Buildup Terrorist Cells Our Weapons Deadly Paths Twin Terrors   CNN.com Latest news: War Against Terror RECENT COVER STORY Closing In Dec. 24, 2001 Past Issues Taliban Last Days Dec. 17, 2001 ----------------- Lifting the Veil Dec. 3, 2001 ----------------- Hunt for bin Laden Nov. 26, 2001 ----------------- Thanksgiving 2001 Nov. 19, 2001 ----------------- Inside Al-Qaeda Nov. 12, 2001 ----------------- Defender In Chief Nov. 5, 2001 ----------------- Going In Oct. 29, 2001 ----------------- The Fear   Factor Oct. 22, 2001 ----------------- Facing   the Fury Oct. 15, 2001 ----------------- How Real   Is the Threat? Oct. 8, 2001 ----------------- Life on the   Home Front Oct. 1, 2001 ----------------- One Nation,   Indivisible Sept. 24, 2001 ----------------- Day of Infamy Sept. 14, 2001   PHOTO ESSAYS Kabul Unveiled Taliban on the Run More Photos >>> MORE STORIES Where's OBL: Letter from Tora Bora Anthrax: Where the Investigation Stands TIME/CNN POLL: Americans Standing By Bush's War More Stories >>>

At a press conference Thursday, Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge told reporters that new tests show further evidence the anthrax found in Florida, New York and Washington is from the same strain. The sample taken from Tom Dashcle's office appears to have been altered to make it more easily dispersed and inhaled.

A New York Post mailroom employee was diagnosed Wednesday with cutaneous anthrax. This is the second case of the skin form of the disease at the tabloid.

Bayer, the German drug company that manufactures Cipro, reached an agreement with Bush administration officials Wednesday that allows the government to purchase Cipro pills for 95 cents per tablet. Private citizens' price for each pill is between $4 and $5. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters the purchase will be completed before January 2002.

Investigators are examining the two letters sent to NBC's Tom Brokaw and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. The letters, penned in identical, block-style lettering, included threats to the U.S. and to Israel. The Brokaw letter urged the recipient to take penicillin "now" while the Daschle letter had a far more aggressive and angry tone.

Fear pierced the walls of the White House Tuesday afternoon, when the remote postage facility that handles White House mail tested positive for anthrax. The Anacostia Naval Station, located miles from the presidential residence, is serviced by the Brentwood post office where two employees were diagnosed with inhaled anthrax. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer expressed "confidence" that no one at the White House had been exposed to the bacteria. Environmental tests at the White House are negative.

Elsewhere in Washington, the Capitol building reopened Tuesday morning after a weekend of environmental testing, but the Senate and House office buildings remained closed. Both houses of Congress were back in session Tuesday. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson appeared before a House subcommittee, where he urged faster production of anthrax and smallpox vaccines. He also answered pointed questions about the CDC response to the latest pulmonary anthrax cases.

More fromCNN.com

• Death toll climbs as storms sweep south
• Bush: Jenna's wedding was 'spectacular'
• Three die in medical helicopter crash

1. Is It Time to Invade Burma?
2. The Five Mistakes Clinton Made
3. Obama: How He Learned to Win
4. Klein on Obama
5. Santa Vs. Interpol
6. Burma's Faceless Leaders
7. 'American Idol' Dad's Backstage Ban
8. Obama Takes Superdelegate Lead
9. Hitting a Nuclear Roadblock
10. 'Jesus' vs. Ahmadinejad

You will need to install or upgrade your Flash Player to be able to view this Flash content. Also, Javascript must be turned on.

Grab it! to put Quotes of the Day on your personal page or blog