Some More Spores?

The fear that began in a newsroom in Florida and spread to Capitol Hill, New York City and New Jersey has now jumped to far-off Karachi, the commercial capital of Pakistan. Two weeks ago, in the newsroom of Pakistan's largest daily newspaper, the 1-million-circulation Jang, a 32-year-old business reporter ripped open a hand-delivered envelope he assumed to be a press release. Then he panicked. "There is powder," he cried, recoiling and flinging the letter onto his desk. "It has powder!" The paper's management sent the letter for tests at Karachi's respected Aga Khan University Hospital, but reporters and other staff continued to work in the newsroom. Last week, the hospital report came back: the letter tested positive for the presence of anthrax spores.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]Jang sealed off the newsroom as an "anthrax zone," had it disinfected and put 80 exposed staff on antibiotics. None of them has shown signs of anthrax infection, including the business reporter who received the powder-laden envelope. "I am fine," he told TIME, asking that his name not be publicized. "But I am still wondering with whom I had such an enmity that I was sent this powder."

He was hardly alone—even in his own city. According to government officials, three other envelopes delivered in Karachi in the past two weeks have tested positive for anthrax spores. The other two recipients were an unnamed business and the Habib Bank A.G. Zurich. In Lahore, meanwhile, the American consulate received an envelope that tested positive. Government officials point out there are no facilities capable of producing high-grade anthrax in Pakistan, which suggests a foreign origin. At Karachi's main international post office, postal workers have been provided with gloves, though no other precautions have been taken.

Pakistan, of course, is a likely target of ire: it is one of Washington's most important allies in the fight against terrorism, and that has brought it trouble enough already: outraged right-wing extremists, the possibility of an overwhelming refugee influx, a restive tribal population that is eager to fight alongside the Taliban. It's possible that the initial tests on the four envelopes will prove faulty, which has happened with anthrax scares in the U.S. and elsewhere: hoax letters have been found in Pakistan in the past few weeks. Nonetheless, says Sardar Abdul Majeed Dasti, Karachi's Superintendent of Police, "This is definitely terrorism. It is aimed to create panic." The word jang does, in fact, mean war, but no one expected the newsroom to become a new front line.