-Caveat Lector- http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/terrorism/0202/0223fortmac.html
WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! Anthrax scare at Fort McPherson; 7 treated for possible exposure after package found Test results possible Saturday By RON MARTZ Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer Military and law enforcement officials hope to learn by noon today whether a suspicious substance found Friday evening at Fort McPherson in southwest Atlanta is anthrax. An initial field test of the powdery white material late Friday was positive for the deadly organism, according to Joe Handley, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Reserve Command headquarters at Fort McPherson. If confirmed, it would be the first positive anthrax discovery since Nov. 21, when a Connecticut woman died after being exposed to the bacterium. "We are going to treat it as if anthrax is present," said Llelwyn Grant, a spokesman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Lisa Swenarski, a CDC spokeswoman, said the substance was taken to the agency's Atlanta labs for testing late Friday. Tests were to run through the night and the results given to the Department of Defense and the Fulton County Health Department, according to Swenarski. Grant said the specimens were packed in a bio-safety kit for transport to the CDC. Col. Guy Shields, chief of public affairs for Forces Command, which also is housed at the base, said that although the early tests for anthrax were positive, "preliminary field testing is not that accurate. It errs on the side of caution." Sunny Sung/AJC A worker donned protective gear Friday night at Fort McPherson. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Col. Dan Stoneking, a Pentagon spokesman, said the substance was discovered around 5:15 p.m. The powder was inside a package that "apparently was delivered through the front door" of the Army Reserve Command headquarters, said Bob Bolia, a spokesman for Fort McPherson. Bolia said he did not know who delivered the package or to whom it was addressed. "We don't know how it got in there or what it is," Shields said. Shields said the package was found on the floor on the building's fourth floor, which contains the mail room. When the package was opened, it was found to contain a plastic sandwich-type bag with the suspicious powder, according to Handley. Shields said seven people, all civilians, came in contact with the suspicious package. Five are employed at Fort McPherson and the other two were first responders with the base fire department. They were decontaminated with showers in a tent-like structure in front of the building. They were allowed to go home around 9 p.m. but will be called back for treatment if the powder is found to be anthrax, Shields said. "I've been told they're fine," he said. Shields said he did not think others came in contact with the powder. The military has tightened its mail screening procedures since last fall, when five people died after letters containing anthrax were mailed to media outlets and government offices in Florida, New York and Washington. It was not known late Friday whether the delivery and acceptance of the suspicious package at Fort McPherson was in keeping with current handling procedures. The building has a secure entry point, Shields said. Names of personnel allowed inside are kept on a roster and visitors must be accompanied by an escort to enter the building. The building where the package was found has been secured, but the base has not been locked down, Shields said. However, workers who are not considered essential have been turned away. Rapid response teams from Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency were sent to the post. The teams specialize in dealing with weapons of mass destruction. The FBI also was at the base. A portion of the base was cordoned off by military police and about 200 of the nearly 1,000 civilian and military personnel who work in the Reserve Command building, one of the newest and largest on the base, were locked in until about 9 p.m. They were allowed to leave, but if test results come back positive, they may be asked to return to the base for decontamination and treatment. Handley said most of the military personnel in the building have been inoculated with the anthrax vaccine, but not the civilians. One person who was forced to wait said the anthrax scare put a damper on a retirement party for an Immigration and Naturalization Service employee, which was planned inside the base. "Half the people couldn't get in," said Jerry Patton. Myrtle Merriwether was one of the cooks for the party. "We all were ready to go," she said, when they heard news of the anthrax scare. Mike Bahus, a civilian who works on the base, said he waited inside the commisary at the bowling alley until he could leave. "They weren't scared so much, but they were concerned it was an anthrax thing," he said of people with whom he waited it out. But Maj Doug Dunklin, in the Force Com Building, said it was "business as usual." "The only thing I know is what I saw on TV," he said. The Army Reserve Command manages about 1,700 reserve units throughout the United States to ensure they are ready for mobilization for war or a natural disaster. Fort McPherson is headquarters of Forces Command, which oversees all Army ground forces in the continental United States, and Third U.S. Army, the ground component for U.S. Central Command, whose mission includes the war in Afghanistan. Most of Third Army's headquarters staff has been in the Middle East since January. Staff writers Kevin Duffy, Henry Farber, Don Plummer and Brendan Sager contributed to this report. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! Write to same address to be off lists! <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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