- Feb 8, 2001
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Investigators suspect anthrax manufactured
at Iowa lab
October 10, 2001 Posted: 12:05 PM EDT (1605 GMT)
BOCA RATON, Florida (CNN)
-- Preliminary results from
environmental tests on the
American Media building in
Boca Raton, Florida, indicate
no traces of the anthrax
bacteria except those found on
the computer keyboard of a
man who died from the disease,
a Florida health official said.
Florida Department of Health
spokesman Frank Penela said
those early results could be
released Wednesday, but stressed
that the testing is not complete.
Health officials also cautioned
that a report that the deadly
anthrax strain may have been
man-made, manufactured at a
facility in Iowa, is also
preliminary and by no means
definitive.
Sources earlier said that
investigators believed they had identified the strain that killed
Robert Stevens as one developed by the unidentified lab in the
1950s.
Investigators could not say how the
strain may have ended up at the
newspaper offices. A positive match
would mean the strain did not occur
naturally and would move the case
closer to a criminal investigation.
The sources did not identify the Iowa
lab and did not know if it was still in
operation.
Stevens, a supermarket tabloid photo
editor, died of inhalation anthrax
Friday, and a second employee at the
newspaper's Boca Raton offices tested
positive for exposure to the bacteria.
Employees of AMI, publishers of such
tabloids as The Sun and the National
Enquirer, lined up at public health
offices for more testing for the deadly
bacteria. Hundreds of employees were
already awaiting test results.
Investigators, meanwhile, donned
protective suits as they scoured the
newspaper offices for more traces.
The AMI offices remained shut down.
Investigators have said the strain that
infected Stevens was the same strain
that was found on the second employee,
and that both worked for The Sun. The
second man, Ernesto Blanco, worked in
AMI's mailroom.
Investigators have been searching for
the source of the anthrax since Stevens'
death last week amid rising fears of a
biological terrorist attack. But no
connection has yet been found linking
the anthrax infection with any known
terror threat.
Several reports of possible anthrax
discoveries in Florida and Virginia
have proven to be false alarms in recent
days.
Investigators suspect anthrax manufactured
at Iowa lab
October 10, 2001 Posted: 12:05 PM EDT (1605 GMT)
BOCA RATON, Florida (CNN)
-- Preliminary results from
environmental tests on the
American Media building in
Boca Raton, Florida, indicate
no traces of the anthrax
bacteria except those found on
the computer keyboard of a
man who died from the disease,
a Florida health official said.
Florida Department of Health
spokesman Frank Penela said
those early results could be
released Wednesday, but stressed
that the testing is not complete.
Health officials also cautioned
that a report that the deadly
anthrax strain may have been
man-made, manufactured at a
facility in Iowa, is also
preliminary and by no means
definitive.
Sources earlier said that
investigators believed they had identified the strain that killed
Robert Stevens as one developed by the unidentified lab in the
1950s.
Investigators could not say how the
strain may have ended up at the
newspaper offices. A positive match
would mean the strain did not occur
naturally and would move the case
closer to a criminal investigation.
The sources did not identify the Iowa
lab and did not know if it was still in
operation.
Stevens, a supermarket tabloid photo
editor, died of inhalation anthrax
Friday, and a second employee at the
newspaper's Boca Raton offices tested
positive for exposure to the bacteria.
Employees of AMI, publishers of such
tabloids as The Sun and the National
Enquirer, lined up at public health
offices for more testing for the deadly
bacteria. Hundreds of employees were
already awaiting test results.
Investigators, meanwhile, donned
protective suits as they scoured the
newspaper offices for more traces.
The AMI offices remained shut down.
Investigators have said the strain that
infected Stevens was the same strain
that was found on the second employee,
and that both worked for The Sun. The
second man, Ernesto Blanco, worked in
AMI's mailroom.
Investigators have been searching for
the source of the anthrax since Stevens'
death last week amid rising fears of a
biological terrorist attack. But no
connection has yet been found linking
the anthrax infection with any known
terror threat.
Several reports of possible anthrax
discoveries in Florida and Virginia
have proven to be false alarms in recent
days.
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