Anthrax: FBI opens probe

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, OCT. 11. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has launched a criminal investigation into the source of anthrax contamination at a supermarket tabloid after learning a third employee was exposed. A nasal swab taken from a 35-year-old woman, whose name was not released, tested positive for the presence of anthrax. She was being treated with antibiotics at a hospital and her condition was not immediately known.

The FBI has said that the anthrax spores found in the Florida building housing American Media Inc., which publishes six tabloids, is part of a strain produced in Iowa nearly 50 years ago. The Centre for Disease Control in Atlanta is one of the agencies involved in the investigation of the Anthrax cases in Florida. The agency has been swamped with calls from people wanting to know more anthrax. An FBI task force sealed off part of the State Department building on Wednesday after an employee said some powder was seen in the mailroom. It turned out to be a false alarm.

One portion of the U.S.-Canadian border was shut down for about seven hours after someone phoned in a bomb threat against a freight company. A Delta Airlines flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles was diverted after a passenger handed a flight attendant a ``threatening note''. Two fighter jets escorted the aircraft after the pilot reported the problem. A man was arrested and charged with causing disturbance.

As the country looks back on what happened exactly a month ago, there are fears that more such terrorist acts could take place in the U.S. America is definitely in a state of heightened alert.

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Section  : International
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