Anthrax traces found in 5 more Senate offices

WASHINGTON -- Trace amounts of anthrax have been discovered in five more Senate offices in the same building where a letter containing the bacteria was opened Oct. 15. \nCapitol Police Lt. Dan Nichols said the latest findings were not unexpected. Police believe letters delivered to other offices in the Hart Senate office building may have been contaminated by the anthrax-filled letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D. \nAnthrax spores were found in the offices of Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont.; Russ Feingold, D-Wis.; Joe Lieberman, D-Conn.; Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.; and Arlen Specter, R-Pa. Nichols said Sunday. \nAll are in the same general area of the Hart building as Daschle's offices. \nDr. John Eisold, the Capitol physician, said the trace amounts of anthrax pose no health risk and no further testing or treatment is necessary for office workers or visitors. \nBaucus spokesman Michael Siegel said, "We are extremely grateful for the quick action of Capitol Police and health officials." Siegel said all of Baucus' staff have remained on the course of antibiotics that they began taking when the letter was first discovered in Daschle's office. \nSpecter spokesman Bill Reynolds said: "We haven't been in the office since the initial closure. Everybody's been tested, some are on antibiotics and some aren't. But we're fine. \n"It's really a non-issue as far as we're concerned," Reynolds said. "All of our people are safe and we're just anticipating getting back to work in our offices." \nIt was reported on Saturday that trace amounts of anthrax had been found in the Hart building offices of Larry Craig, R-Idaho; Bob Graham, D-Fla.; and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. Spores were also found in the offices of Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., in the Longworth House office building. \nAlso Saturday, the Postal Service moved mail-processing operations from its Brentwood facility to a location on V Street in northeast Washington. \nOfficials discovered the Brentwood facility -- which processed the Daschle letter -- is so badly contaminated that it will probably take months to remove the anthrax. Two mail handlers at Brentwood died from inhaling anthrax. \nThe Postal Service had hoped to open a mail-sorting center in neighboring Prince George's County, Md., but County Executive Wayne Curry put a stop to it last Wednesday. \nCurry said he believed that facility was meant to be a decontamination center for mail addressed to Congress. Postal officials said that was not so.