WASHINGTON, March 14 (UPI) -- Two Pentagon mail facilities had positive anthrax tests Monday though follow-up tests, so far, have been negative.
The alert disrupted the day of hundreds of people at and around the two facilities, one on the Pentagon grounds and one in the Bailey's Crossroads neighborhood of Arlington, Va. The two handle the same mail which comes through the Pentagon location first.
All the mail is irradiated before reaching either facility.
"It was an initial indicator (alarm). That is why they were very glad to know that anything that had gone over to that facility had already been irradiated," said Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Commander Jane Campbell.
Mail is first received at the Pentagon remote mail facility or RDF, which as the name implies is not physically connected to the main building. It then goes to the satellite location in Virginia for dispersal to offices there.
The alert was sounded by sensors on the mail handling machines. No other tests were positive including tests of the air.
The first alert was received in the morning at which point the 175 people in the Pentagon facility were evacuated to another location. Hundreds of people were stuck for hours after being ordered to stay in their offices in the building associated with the satellite facility.
"The RDF was closed up and we moved the folks over to a location where we could kind of collect everybody up, brief them as we got the best information we could," said Campbell. "They were seeing medical folks to get the screenings and then were offered the antibiotic regimen.
Samples have been sent to the United States Army Medical Research Institute for infectious diseases in Frederick, Md. to confirm the original results. Results of those tests should be available in 48 to 72 hours.
The entire operation was handled according to an already developed plan that involved the Centers for Disease Control, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Health and Human Services and the U.S. Postal Service. Also involved were officials from the Arlington County Department of Human Services, the public health division of the surrounding county.
Anthrax, a bacterium that can last for years in spore form, is not contagious. Although potentially fatal, particularly if inhaled, it is easily treated with antibiotics such as Cipro. Those possibly exposed to anthrax were offered a three-day regimen of antibiotics as a precaution.
Anthrax-laced letters killed five people, including two postal workers, in the fall of 2001. The subsequent investigation failed to identify the person or persons who sent the contaminated letters.
