Last Updated

15 Jan 2003

Source: Reuters, May 24, 2002.

Recent anthrax scares turn up nothing

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Three recent anthrax scares appeared groundless Friday after the International Monetary Fund said final tests on a batch of mail had come back negative and the Federal Reserve said extra tests on its mail, although not complete, were negative so far.

The IMF said Friday final tests for anthrax on a batch of mail were negative, after a scare earlier in the week closed the mailroom at its Washington headquarters.

"The final and conclusive series of anthrax tests carried out on the IMF mail and within the IMF mailroom and loading dock areas have produced negative readings," IMF spokesman Francisco Baker said.

"This means that the mail in the areas in question was not contaminated by live anthrax."

The IMF said earlier in the week a batch of mail that arrived at the fund tested positive for the potentially deadly bacteria, even though initial tests carried out on the same mail off-site were negative.

The second test at the IMF was in response to an anthrax scare at the nearby World Bank, which kept 1,000 employees away from work. Follow-up tests on the bank's mail announced Thursday also showed no traces of live anthrax.

The IMF's anthrax scare was the third in less than two weeks in Washington. Earlier this month, the Federal Reserve found traces of anthrax in its mail at a facility in an adjacent building. Follow-up testing of the Fed's mail is still under way, but so far the tests have been negative, the Fed said.

"There are still lab tests outstanding, but the results we have received to date have been negative," a Fed spokeswoman said on Friday.

The central bank began routine testing last fall after anthrax-tainted mail was found at various media outlets, in a Senate office building and at other government sites.

Five people in the United States were killed by anthrax last year and authorities have yet to find the perpetrator of the mail-based assaults.