Tuesday, November 6, 2001

Anthrax found in two post boxes at Pentagon
By Susanne M. Schafer
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Two postal boxes at a post office inside the Pentagon have tested positive for anthrax and individuals renting other boxes are being screened at a Pentagon health clinic, a Pentagon spokesman said Monday.

A Navy sailor who had rented one of the two boxes has been seen at Bethesda Naval Hospital, a Pentagon spokesman said, but no further information about his identity or condition was available.

The second box was unassigned, Pentagon officials said Monday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took samples from the office on Tuesday, and the test results were returned Saturday. Two of 17 samples taken tested positive, the Pentagon said.

The office was decontaminated Sunday and “retesting results were all negative,” said a Pentagon statement.

Pentagon spokesman Glen Flood said he had no information about the quality of the anthrax found during the testing.

There are 214 post boxes at the office, which is located in a concourse inside the Pentagon.

All those renting the boxes are being contacted and offered the chance to come to the Pentagon's clinic for screening, Flood said. He said he had no information on the number of renters who might have accepted the offer.

The post office was closed Monday. Yellow police tape covered the alcoves housing the boxes, which are located outside the post office itself in a far corner of the concourse.

The concourse is a commercial section of the Pentagon and contains a bank, several shops and food kiosks that serve the thousands of workers in the building.

It is separate from the Defense Department's own mailroom, which has been tested twice with negative results, Flood said.

The facility had been scheduled for random testing because it gets its mail from the Brentwood post office in the District of Columbia, which was closed Oct. 15 after anthrax was discovered inside.

Six employees in the concourse post office had been put on medication as a precaution shortly after the discovery of anthrax at Brentwood, the Pentagon said.