NEW YORK, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Investigators Saturday worked to trace the source of anthrax confirmed at sites in Florida, Nevada and New York City as the total climbed to 10 of people confirmed to have been exposed to the disease.
In Florida, where anthrax claimed its first victim Oct. 5, five more people in Boca Raton were found to have been exposed to anthrax, Michael Kahane, general counsel for American Media Inc., said late Saturday afternoon. That brought to eight the number there testing positive for anthrax, including the dead man.
It was not immediately known if all five were employees of the tabloid publisher because the tests have been administered to visitors to the building and postal workers.
Two letters sent to NBC News in New York were contaminated with anthrax and two employees there have been exposed, New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said earlier in the day.
Speaking to reporters, Giuliani said the second letter to NBC was sent from Trenton, N.J. to NBC "Nightly News" anchor Tom Brokaw. The threatening letter contained a granular substance and anthrax tests on it were positive.
Since this letter was received Sept. 18, a week earlier than another letter handled by Brokaw's assistant, more NBC employees may have to be tested for anthrax exposure.
So far 358 NBC employees and others who may have been exposed at the NBC offices have been tested.
Though the second woman exposed did display some flu symptoms and a rash, it was unclear whether her symptoms resulted from anthrax exposure.
Stephen Ostroff, associate director of the National Center for Infectious Disease of the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, described the woman's symptoms as "a low-grade fever, swollen lymph nodes and a rash."
"It was a relatively mild illness," said Ostroff, adding later she "is OK."
Erin O'Connor, the 38-year-old assistant to Brokaw, was had been receiving antibiotics since Oct. 1 for a chest lesion confirmed Friday to have been caused by anthrax. She contracted the least dangerous form of anthrax, in which the spores enter through a scrape or cut in the skin. She is expected to recover fully.
Other letters originally suspected to contain anthrax mailed from St. Petersburg, Fla., to the New York Times, NBC and the St. Petersburg Times have been tested and, so far, have been negative for anthrax.
An envelope containing a powder showed up on columnist Howard Troxler's desk at the St. Petersburg Times on Tuesday. The desk was wrapped in plastic and reporters near the desk continued about their business. The white substance tested negative for anthrax.
"Otherwise, things in the (New York) city appear to be pretty normal. I think people absorbed this news about anthrax. I think they understand a lot more about anthrax than they ever wanted to know," Giuliani said before heading off to more memorials and funerals for victims of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. "But there are things about it they need to be reminded of. It is not contagious. It can be treated and cured."
"We have identified the missing link, so to speak, the actual cause of this anthrax which has created this whole situation," said NBC Chairman Bob Wright.
American Media, the first site where a letter containing anthrax was discovered, publishes the National Enquirer, Sun, the Spanish-language Mira and other tabloids. Bob Stevens, 63, a photo editor for the Sun, died of inhaled anthrax and early tests showed two other employees, 73-year old Enrique Blanco and 36-year-old Stephanie Dailey, who both worked in the mailroom, had been exposed to anthrax. The five other people exposed to anthrax are being treated with antibiotics but none have required hospitalization.
Though inhaled anthrax is the most deadly form of the disease, 90 percent fatal if left untreated, neither Blanco nor Dailey have developed the actual infection. Both have been treated with antibiotics and are expected to be fine.
Authorities were still waiting for test results for fewer than 100 other American Media employees plus those of 15 U.S. Postal Service employees at a nearby branch post office.
The third test on a letter mailed from Malaysia to a Microsoft office in Reno, Nev., was positive for anthrax, Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn said Saturday. Preliminary tests, which looked at slightly different factors, had been negative.
The letter had contained a check made out to a vendor in Malaysia. The letter was returned to the Microsoft office but the check appeared oddly dampened and obscene materials had been put into the envelope. The unusual situation prompted the Reno employees to call authorities.
The anthrax was found on one of the obscene pictures, said Guinn, who added the material was being sent to the CDC for more sophisticated DNA tests to determine whether the anthrax is a virulent and potentially deadly strain, or one used to manufacture anthrax vaccine and harmless.
"This is a very low risk to the public," Quinn said. Five or six people apparently handled the letter, which sat on an office desk for some time before it was opened.
Malaysia has been considered a likely base for terrorists tied to Osama bin Laden. The New York Times reported this week that cells in the Pacific nation, as well as the Philippines and Indonesia, could be on the list of future targets for covert U.S. military operations.
Other reports from California and Colorado now appear to be false alarms.
A Culver City, Calif., incident involved a 30-year-old male temporary employee of Sony Studios who was hospitalized Friday night after reportedly coming into contact with an unknown white powder while handling office papers.
A representative of Sony told United Press International Saturday that, upon investigation, law enforcement could not find any type of powder in the letter and the unidentified man was released from the hospital and was not on antibiotics.
US Airways said Saturday Flight 121 from Charlotte, N.C. to Denver was diverted to Indianapolis as a precautionary measure after an unidentified powder was discovered. The powder was analyzed and discovered to be non-toxic, according to a US Airways spokesman David Castelveter. A flight attendant discovered the substance in a trash bag in the galley.
In Denver, the FBI said Friday it analyzed a white powdery substance found in a piece of mail opened in Parker, Colo., 20 miles southeast of Denver. The substance was found to be pudding mix, according to officials at Parker Town Hall.
Culver City Fire Department Capt. Kevin Kinnon told UPI Saturday there were some 30 anthrax scares on the west side of Los Angeles County during the past week and more are expected next week when people return to work.
"Everyone is going to jump on the hoax bandwagon or there are going to be a lot of 'cry wolf' situations," he said.
Kinnon, a hazardous materials expert, said the reports turned out to be a variety of white substances, including corn starch, baby powder and cotton batting.
In San Jose, about 80 passengers were held aboard a United Airlines flight from Chicago to San Jose for almost four hours Saturday after a man was said to have stood up in flight and released a powdery white substance into the air ventilation system.
Noelle Knell, a spokeswoman for San Jose Airport, told UPI: "It was a false alarm. A man opened a letter with confetti inside and several passengers seated nearby became alarmed and notified the crew."
Knell said the plane landed safely in San Jose at 2:30 p.m. PDT, and that all the passengers had been reunited with their families.
