WASHINGTON (REUTERS) ? Preliminary genetic tests show the strains of anthrax that infected people at NBC News in New York and a tabloid-publishing house in Florida are the same, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.
The anthrax, which was evidently ground up and sent in letters to American Media Inc. in Boca Raton, Florida, and NBC in New York, responds to antibiotics, and people who have started taking drugs should be protected, the CDC said.
“Preliminary tests that we have done indicate that they are a match,” a CDC spokesman said. The tests were done at the CDC’s laboratories in Atlanta.
“Make sure that people know this strain responds to antibiotics,” the spokesman added.
A photo editor at AMI’s Sun tabloid died from an infection caused by the inhaled anthrax spores and a mailroom employee may have been infected with the same type of anthrax. In New York, an NBC employee and at ABC a 7-month-old baby who visited his mother’s workplace came down with skin infections that should be easily treatable, officials have said.
Genetic tests are key to finding the source of the anthrax, which is fairly common because it is a dangerous livestock disease. Labs all over the world have samples to test for making vaccines and treatments.
Governments have also developed forms of anthrax to use as biological weapons. For instance, Iraq is known to have had weapons-grade anthrax, as did the former Soviet Union.
Another clue is the physical form of the anthrax. It requires specialized equipment to get anthrax colonies broken up into fine “aerosols” of powder that will float in the air.
Officials are very keen to find the source of the anthrax used in the various attacks. It can show if the person or persons who sent the anthrax were backed by governments or working alone.
It will not be easy. Anthrax experts say the Bacillus anthracis bacteria do not have a lot of genetic variation. DNA from one strain looks very similar to the DNA of another.
But there are a few distinctions, known as genetic fingerprints. A bit of DNA is extracted and certain portions, known as sequences, can be looked at and compared.
To do this, scientists must get a sample of the anthrax, which has been put into the envelopes in spore form. Spores are hardy and are produced by bacteria to help them survive a dormant phase.
They have to get the spores to revert to bacterial form and start multiplying, which is done by growing them in a warm culture.
The CDC has done “quick and dirty” tests, but more extensive testing is being done at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and at a specialized lab at Northern Arizona University.
It may take longer to compare and identify other strains used in attacks, such as the anthrax found in the office of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and in the offices of New York Gov. John Pataki.
Spores were also sent to a Microsoft office in Nevada and, apparently, to ABC, although the source of the anthrax that made the baby ill has not been found.
