US State Dept. Limited Shutdown - Anthrax Scare

[southerngale]

An envelope containing a suspicious white powder was found at the US State Department prompting a security alert amid fears it might be the deadly anthrax bacteria.

The discovery forced a limited shutdown of the department's Office of Public Communications, where the envelope was found, while an FBI anti-terrorism team and agents from the Bureau of Diplomatic Security conducted tests on the powder, they said Monday.

The ventilation system in the vicinity of the office was also turned off as a precaution, the officials said.

"The area has been sealed," one official told reporters.

A public announcement made over the department's internal intercom system said a "suspicious piece of mail that contains an unknown white powder" had been discovered in the office.

Shortly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, letters containing anthrax bacteria were received by US news organizations and lawmakers, killing five people.

The State Department, which handled one of those letters that had been misrouted to its main mail facility, temporarily shut down its diplomatic pouch service after traces of anthrax were found at several of its overseas missions.

One department employee, who worked at the off-site facility, was infected with the bacteria but recovered.

Since then, all incoming mail to the department, as well as other US government agencies, has been irradiated although discoveries of white powder still prompt thorough investigations.

The last such anthrax scare is believed to have occurred in October 2002 when a suspicious white powder was found in an envelope at the department's Office of Children's Services.

Test on that powder came back negative for anthrax.