WASHINGTON (WNBC) – An NBC Nightly News employee was infected with anthrax after the network received mail containing a suspicious powder. The anthrax is not the inhaled form of the disease, which killed a Florida tabloid photo editor a week ago.
It’s the first confirmed case of anthrax outside of Florida, and the first in New York. The good news is that it is a less deadly variety of the same bacterium seen in Florida. What’s known for sure is that an unusual powder-filled envelope arrived at 30 Rockefeller Plaza more than two weeks ago. The woman who opened the envelope got sick.
The letter, which sources close to the investigation say was addressed to NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw, arrived Sept. 25 in the second floor mailroom. It was brought to Nightly News’ third floor offices, where the sources say it was opened by an assistant who days later contracted what’s described as a serious black-spotted rash.
Andy Lack, president of NBC, said, “We received a positive test for cutaneous anthrax for one of our colleagues who works on Nightly News.”
Cutaneous anthrax is not the same kind as the more deadly inhaled form, which killed a Florida newspaper editor last week. But how did it get to an office in New York, and why? For now, the FBI sees no connection to last month’s suicide hijacking attacks.
FBI assistant director Barry Mawn said, “We see no connection whatsoever to Sept. 11. The way we would handle this is to open a separate criminal matter.”
Complicating the investigation is a lack of evidence linking the suspicious package to the infection.
“The letter that arrived [at NBC] had a powder. The powder was tested and the powder was found to be negative,” Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said.
The New York anthrax scare began Sept. 25 when the letter was received at NBC. Three days later on Sept. 28, the NBC employee who opened the letter noticed symptoms including a fever and developing rash. On Oct. 1, the symptoms were serious enough to send her to her doctor, who ordered treatment with the antibiotic Cipro. No one knew it was anthrax at that point.
On Oct. 2, an FBI test on the powder came back negative for anthrax. A second test also came back negative. A week later on Oct. 9, the victim had a biopsy taken. The results arrived at 3:35 a.m. Friday, showing that she had tested positive for anthrax.
President George W. Bush said, “It has got to be a cause of concern, but I want to assure everybody that the government is responding rapidly.”
As a precaution, mail distribution has been suspended at NBC, and at ABC, CBS and the Associated Press. At the New York Times building in Times Square, there was a brief building lockdown after powder spilled out of an envelope received by a reporter who writes about the Middle East. Late Friday afternoon, the Fox News Channel reported receiving a suspicious letter on Sept. 25 – the same day as the NBC package. No one has been found to be sick there.
