WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- The FBI has investigated more than 2,500 anthrax-related calls since the nationwide scare began and Thursday offered up to a $1 million reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone found guilty of sending the pathogen through the mail.
Attorney General John Ashcroft told reporters the anthrax cases were "destructive acts of cowards" and pledged to hunt down and prosecute perpetrators of anthrax hoaxes as well.
Ashcroft said the law prohibits sending through the mail any communications that contain threats of harm, with convictions carrying up to five years in prison. The law also bans mail that contains threats of using biological toxins, with punishments of up to life in prison and very serious fines. Anyone found guilty of lying to law enforcement can be sentenced to up to five years in prison.
He said four individuals have been charged, so far, with making anthrax threats and additional cases are under investigation. Two of the four cases involved people alleged to have lied to federal authorities and two involved false threats of using biological weapons.
So far, five cases of anthrax infection have been confirmed nationwide -- three in New York at ABC, NBC and CBS, and one in Florida and a newly announced infection of a postal worker at the Trenton, N.J. post office -- with additional possible cases in Florida.
There are dozens of additional exposures: an employee of Gov. George Pataki's office in New York, enployees of tabloid publisher American Media Inc. in Boca Raton, Fla. and -- in Washington -- a total of 31 people from the Capitol Hill police and staffs of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D. and Senator Russell Feingold, D-Wis.
FBI Director Robert Mueller -- who noted the FBI usually investigates about 250 reports of biological and chemical cases each year -- said the nation was "clearly concerned" as evidenced by the more than 2,500 reports -- most of the false alarms -- of possible anthrax.
"I want you to know our investigators are hard at work," he said, responding to each and every request and following up on each lead. "They are treating every incident around the country as a serious crime."
He said while the investigation has not reached the point of indictments, and the main focal points are Florida, New York and Washington -- sites of confirmed anthrax -- more than 300,000 leads have been received since Sept. 11, the date of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
Mueller said sending anthrax through the mail was a terrorist act and the investigation was proceeding on that premise.
Postmaster General Jack Potter said the postal service would be sending out cards to each household in America advising them how to handle any suspicious mail. He called the recommendations "common sense" but added, "If you receive something that is suspicious we want you to isolate it. Put it in a plastic bag..."
Ashcroft said the Justice Department was working closely with the FBI and federal health officials in the anthrax investigation. Beyond that, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, responding to a reporter's query about his authority, noted: "I don't have tactical operating authority," but added he did not need it because all relevant agencies were responding as needed to events.
"I have access. I have the president's ear," he said, noting he would focus on identifying any gaps in homeland defense and inform the president.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta has confirmed its testing shows strains of anthrax found in New York and Florida are the same. The CDC has continued to stress all strains found so far have been very susceptible to antibiotic treatment. The strain found in Washington was described as "run of the mill" and did not indicate it had been genetically altered.
Dr. Stephen Ostroff of the CDC told a news conference at CBS in New York Thursday it appeared the cases at NBC, CBS and ABC are very similar but more testing is needed on the anthrax found.
"By all appearances, the cases appear to be very similar," he said. "The patterns are essentially identical."
Scientists said the linkage between the strains in New York and Florida does not mean they came from the same place, but it provides an important set of clues.
Martin Hugh-Jones, a Louisiana State University epidemiologist who heads a World Health Organization anthrax task force, said the finding could be significant.
"I'd say it's either the same group or closely related groups. Either they all know each other or they both got it from a common third source," Hugh-Jones said.
FBI spokeswoman Judy Orhuela said she could not comment on what it means.
"I don't think you can really draw conclusions now. We're still looking into any other links, if we can find any other links," she said.
"We still don't have a letter (in Florida) here, though. It is like a homicide without a body," she said.
The FBI made a final search for any suspect letters in the American Media building in Boca Raton Wednesday and prepared to leave the site.
The next step will be a cleanup by the Environmental Protection Agency, although American Media, which publishes supermarket tabloids such as the National Enquirer, does not plan to use the building again. Employees are being retested to ensure no potential anthrax exposures are missed.
