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Anthrax traces detected at FDA mailrooms

By Cleve Mesidor and Kevin Bohn
CNN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Preliminary tests on four mailrooms used by the Food and Drug Administration have come back positive for anthrax, an agency spokeswoman said Thursday, adding more tests are under way to confirm the contamination.

The FDA spokeswoman said traces of anthrax were found in mailrooms at FDA headquarters in Rockville, Maryland, and three other FDA sites in that city. All four mailrooms are closed, she said.

The four FDA sites did not get mail directly from the contaminated Brentwood processing center in Washington.

It primarily received mail from a Postal Service "hub" in Shady Grove, Maryland, the spokeswoman said. The facility in Shady Grove received mail from several locations, including Brentwood.

Antibiotics are being given to all FDA mailroom employees where there is possible exposure, she said.

Traces of anthrax previously were found in a mailroom used by the FDA in a building in downtown Washington. The facility received its mail directly from Brentwood.



 
 
 
 


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