Anthrax hits US consulate in Russia
Consulate staff have been offered antibiotics
American officials say anthrax has been found in mail sent to their consulate in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.
The mail originated in Washington and was part of a regular diplomatic delivery.
US missions affected
Lahore
Lima
Vilnius
Yekaterinburg
It was tested after the US State Department told the consulate that an employee in its Virginia post office had contracted anthrax.
The first round of tests uncovered no traces of the potentially deadly bacteria, but a second test found some spores in one of the bags, although the amount was negligible.
The news came only hours after it was confirmed that an envelope sent to the US mission in the Pakistani city of Lahore contained anthrax - the third such discovery in Pakistan.
This brings to four the number of US diplomatic missions that have been the apparent target of anthrax attacks.
Antibiotics taken
"Consulate officials (in Yekaterinburg) were informed today that a State Department mail bag confirmed positive for anthrax," an American embassy spokesman in Moscow said on Tuesday.
The mail bag was part of America's standard diplomatic mail service within Russia, officials say.
The consulate staff in Yekaterinburg, the capital of Russia's Ural Mountains region, have now been offered antibiotics - only one has accepted.
Earlier on Tuesday, the US embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, confirmed that an envelope sent to its Lahore consulate last week had tested positive for anthrax.
These add to the attacks on the American embassies in Vilnius, Lithuania, and Lima, Peru.
Anthrax has been found in four US diplomatic missions
The white powder in the Lahore envelope is now being sent to the United States for further testing.
US officials say the envelope had a local postmark, although this was unreadable.
The consulate was prepared for such an eventuality.
The envelope was opened by a worker wearing a protective mask and gloves who was put on antibiotics as a precautionary measure.
None of the staff has shown any symptoms of anthrax.
Officials puzzled
On Friday, the largest selling newspaper in Pakistan, the Daily Jang, confirmed it had also received anthrax spores in a hand-delivered envelope.
Some staff members were put on antibiotics, and the editorial offices were decontaminated.
The government had said there was another earlier confirmed case where anthrax was sent through the post to a computer company.
Pakistani Government officials are still investigating the cases and say they still have no clear idea who could be responsible.
news.bbc.co.uk |
