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Suspicious Package at Army Headquarters Could Contain Anthrax
Friday, February 22, 2002
WASHINGTON — Mail handlers at U.S. Army Reserve Command headquarters in Georgia found a suspicious package Friday, and initial field tests indicated that anthrax could be present, a Pentagon spokesman said.
Authorities evacuated the building, which is at Fort McPherson near Atlanta, said spokesman Col. Dan Stoneking. The initial field tests which indicated anthrax could be present are often inaccurate, Stoneking noted.
Mail handlers on the fourth floor of the building noticed the suspicious package, which contained a white powder, at about 5:15 p.m. Friday, Stoneking said.
A law-enforcement official said the FBI was on the scene but had no confirmation the powdery substance was anthrax.
Base officials asked the federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta to test the substance.
Llelwyn Grant, a CDC spokesman, said preliminary tests can take 12 to 24 hours. He said the CDC would investigate the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the package at Fort McPherson.
"We are going to treat it as if anthrax is present," said Grant, noting that the specimens will be packed in a bio-safety kit for transport to the CDC.
The Army Reserve Command oversees all Army Reserve units in the contiguous United States except for psychological operations and civil affairs units.
Fort McPherson is also home to the Army's Central Command, which oversees Army operations in Afghanistan and other parts of the Middle East and Central Asia. The top Army commanders for that region have been moved to a base in Kuwait during the Afghanistan conflict, however.
Five people died after anthrax-laced letters were mailed to journalists, politicians and government offices in Florida, New York and Washington last fall. Since then, the military has tightened its mail screening procedures nationwide. |
