Five United Nations employees in Kosovo have been made ill by an apparently toxic substance coming from a parcel in a mail room, officials in the UN-run Yugoslav province said today.
The content of the parcel would be tested, but it was not believed to be anthrax, UN police said in a statement. The parcel was addressed to a UN office in the Kosovo capital, Pristina, but its origin has not yet been confirmed.
However, the substance is not believed to be anthrax or any other biologically hazardous material, the statement said.
In the United States, five people have died and 13 others have been infected with anthrax since early October.
A UN spokeswoman in Kosovo said the substance came out when a mail room employee examined a damaged envelope yesterday, adding he got a rash while another employee had stomach sickness and three others had irritated eyes.
UN police said the affected employees were taken to hospital for testing and treatment, had been released, and were recovering well.