October 4th - US health authorities announce a man in Florida has anthrax, but discount the possibility it is a deliberate act by terrorists.
October 5th - The man infected with anthrax dies in Florida. The authorities again say the case is isolated and not linked to any biological terrorist attack.
October 8th - A second Florida man, a colleague of the deceased victim, is found to be exposed to anthrax. Both worked at Media Company. The Attorney General, Mr John Ashcroft, says the FBI is taking the case very seriously and he cannot rule out the possibility of a bioterrorist attack.
October 10th - Berlin health authorities go on alert against a possible anthrax attack after the discovery of a mysterious envelope. A third person is said to have been exposed to anthrax in Florida.
October 11th - German authorities examine a number of letters marked "The Jihad has begun".
October 12th - A fourth person exposed to anthrax is discovered: an employee at the US television net.
October 13th - A suspicious envelope sparks off a new anthrax alert in the western German city of Mainz.
- Six envelopes containing suspect powder are discovered in two days in Belgium but none contain dangerous substances.
- A letter sent from Malaysia to a Microsoft office in the US tests positive for traces of anthrax, local authorities say.
October 14th -- Three more people are found to have been exposed to anthrax in New York City -- a police officer and two lab workers who handled the contaminated letter to NBC.
October 15th - Preliminary tests on letter to Senate Majority Leader Mr Tom Daschle prove positive for anthrax. Scares in many centres from Australia to western Europe.