A US politician has become the latest target in the anthrax campaign. Preliminary tests have shown anthrax in a letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschel. Making the announcement President George W Bush said that two of the senator’s aides were being treated.
Asked if Osama bin Laden, the chief suspect in the 11 September terrorist attacks was behind the attack, President Bush said: "I wouldn't put it past him, but we don't have hard evidence yet."
The US president also urged the US public to take precautions when opening their post and to report suspicious letters or packages to the police.
Tonight it is being reported that US Republican Patrick Kennedy and nine of his office workers are being tested for possible anthrax exposure after a worker developed a skin rash over the weekend.
Meanwhile, officials say that a Continental Airlines jet has been quarantined at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, with all of its crew and passengers on board, after a suspicious substance was found. A team of emergency workers is currently examining traces of a white powdery substance found on the airliner.
Anthrax spores have also been found at the main post office in Boca Raton, the Florida town where the disease first surfaced. A health department statement read: "There is no indication that these spores pose a health risk to workers or visitors".
However, it added that as a precaution, health officials were evacuating that part of the building and it would be cleaned.
The UN has confirmed that two suspicious letters sent to its headquarters in New York tested negative for the disease. However, UN mailroom staff have been given strict guidelines on how to deal with suspect post.
In Australia, political leaders have called for calm as fears of bio-chemical attacks spread in the wake of anthrax cases in the United States. The United States consulate in Melbourne had to be evacuated after a chemical found in a letter caused a security alert.
The British consulate in Brisbane was one of five buildings across the north eastern state of Queensland to report suspicious letters containing white powder. A hospital, the State Premier's office and a local University were among the buildings evacuated.
Six people who had come in contact with the powder at the State Development Building have reportedly been decontaminated by removing their clothes and showering them. They were later taken to hospital as a precaution. A tax department building in Canberra was evacuated after a suspicious package was found. Sydney airport was also closed after staff found a suspicious package.
Workers at Rio de Janeiro international airport found white powder on a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt. And in Europe, over 50 staff were evacuated from an office in Paris tonight.
Since 5 October, authorities in the United States have discovered 12 people contaminated with various forms of the anthrax bacterium. Two have contracted the disease, and one has died.
The director for the centre for disease control, Jeffrey Koplan, said that he believed the United States could deal with the anthrax scare.
