A letter apparently spiked with the potentially-deadly anthrax bacteria was found yesterday in a batch of impounded mail intended for the US Congress, the FBI said.
The letter, addressed to Senator Mr Patrick Leahy, resembled other letters tainted with the often-deadly bacteria, including one addressed to Senate Majority Leader Mr Tom Daschle, which was discovered on October 15th, according to the agency.
"The as-yet-unopened-letter ... appears in every respect to be similar to the other anthrax-laced letters," the FBI announced.
The agency said the letter would be subjected to further testing "in an effort to confirm the presence of anthrax and examine its contents to compare it with that found in other letters."
The suspect letter was found by hazardous materials experts who earlier this week began the daunting task of sorting through the more than 250 "barrels" of unopened mail sent to Capitol Hill since the Daschle letter was discovered.
Twenty-eight congressional employees were confirmed exposed to the bacteria in the letter postmarked from Trenton, New Jersey, but none of them has been diagnosed with the deadly disease.
However, two postal workers in the Brentwood mail sorting facility here, which processed the letter, are among the four who have died in the rash of bioterror attacks.
The letter to Mr Leahy, who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is the fourth contaminated envelope discovered since the outbreak of the deadly bacteria began more than a month ago.
The correspondence to the Vermont Democrat marked the first new case of mail contamination since mid-October, when the Capitol Hill postal service shut down after a similar letter arrived in Mr Daschle’s office.
AFP