Two of the Pentagon mailrooms have been subjected to Anthrax tests in response to what appears to have been false alarms. The tests, which have been negative, were done a day after initial testing indicated the deadly spores might be present in some areas, prompting nearly 900 workers to take antibiotics as a precaution; it closed three mail facilities - two that serve the Pentagon and one in Washington that handles mail on its way to the military.
Some of the preliminary results were positive but subsequent additional tests were in fact negative, said Dr. William Winkenwerder, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.
The three years since the 2001 anthrax-by-mail attacks have seen many initial tests that falsely reported anthrax in government mailrooms. In this case, however, two alert systems independently suggested the presence of the bacteria, raising concerns and invoking memories of the attacks that killed five and panicked Americans still raw from the Sept. 11 attacks.
Warning signs of anthrax appeared at two Pentagon mail facilities on Monday, and officials were very concerned, it now appears to have been a coincidence. A filter on a screening device for chemical and biological agents on the Pentagon grounds tested positive for anthrax and triggered off the first alarm then, in a separate incident an alarm was set off at a nearby satellite mail processing facility.