conjecture? Look at the bottom of the article.
Suspicious Package at Army Headquarters Could Contain Anthrax
Friday, February 22, 2002
ATLANTA — A suspicious package found at U.S. Army Reserve Command headquarters in Georgia on Friday tested positive for anthrax in initial field tests, according to a Pentagon spokesman.
Such tests are often inaccurate, however, spokesman Col. Dan Stoneking said.
A sandwich bag-type container filled with a white powdery substance was discovered by mail handlers in the building at about 4 p.m. on Friday, although there was no indication that it came through the mail. The building is at Fort McPherson, near Atlanta.
At first, the building was locked down with 200 people inside; later, it was evacuated. Six people who handled the package, three of them civilians, were sent to a hospital for examination, according to Amy Reserve Command spokesman Joe Handley.
"We are taking a reasonable approach to this," Handley said.
Most of the military personnel have been inoculated with the anthrax vaccine, but civilians on the base have not, according to Handley. It was not yet known whether the specific members of the military exposed had received the vaccine.
The package is being sent to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta for further tests. A test to confirm or disprove the initial positive report could take up to 24 hours, CDC spokesman Llelwyn Grant said.
"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.
A total of about 1,000 work in the building, according to Handley. The Army Reserve Command oversees all Reserve units in the contiguous U.S. except for psychological operations and civil affairs units.
Fort McPherson is also home to the Army's Central Command, which oversees Army operations in 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.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
