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Locally, reports turn up empty By Aaron Nicodemus, Standard-Times staff writer
 Area police and
firefighters responded to dozens of calls yesterday about suspicious white
powders that people worried might be anthrax. So far, none of the powders has
turned out to be dangerous. No one has been admitted to St. Luke's
Hospital for exposure to anthrax, not even as a precaution, according to a
hospital spokeswoman. The state's Department of Public
Health tested 60 items from across the state over the weekend, mostly
letters -- but also VCRs and pizza boxes -- for anthrax. So far, all have
tested negative. Results of tests on materials collected yesterday,
including those from SouthCoast, were not yet available. Nervous SouthCoast residents were
not taking any chances yesterday. Yesterday began with a call from
New Bedford High School about a suspicious briefcase that had been left
unattended. After local police and the state bomb squad investigated, the
briefcase was found to be empty. About a half-hour later, a
Verizon employee at the company's switching station in downtown New
Bedford called to say that an inter-office letter she received was covered
with a white powder. The
hazardous material response team of the New Bedford Fire Department
arrived, and one firefighter dressed in a "haz-mat" suit took the letter
and sealed it in a purple plastic bag. The firefighter's suit and the
letter were sent to the state Department of Public Health for testing.
Employees at the
AT&T Customer Service and Sales Center in Fairhaven were evacuated
just before lunch when workers found powder in two bathrooms. The state's
hazardous material response team was called in to seal off the building,
clean up the suspicious material and test it. Antone Souza, executive director
of the Waterfront Historic Area League, said his organization received a
suspicious letter from Africa addressed to WHALE's old address on William
Street. "It was a strange-looking letter, airmailed from a country in
Africa," he said. "It didn't have a return address, and I could see there
was paper folded up inside it. It was probably nothing, but I didn't want
to take the chance." Police sealed the letter and delivered it to the
state for testing.
"People are reacting to rumor and the fear," said New Bedford Police Chief
Arthur J. Kelly III. "We've been inundated with people who have real
concerns." Chief Kelly
said the department has responded to at least 20 such calls in 24 hours.
Some calls were easier to dismiss than others, such as the woman who
called to report suspicious white material on her car. Chief Kelly said
the police officer who responded pointed out to the woman that the white
material was also on the ground near her car, and looked an awful lot like
bird droppings. But
other complaints required police to take packages or letters from the
person's home, seal them and have them tested. "The message I have for people
is, if you're not expecting it, or if you have any doubts about it, don't
open it," Chief Kelly said. He encouraged people to try to figure out
where any suspicious letters came from by asking the person if they indeed
sent it. "There is no
law that you have to open your mail," Chief Kelly said. "If you're
suspicious of it after you check with whomever sent it, we will collect it
and have it tested." The
anthrax scare began in Florida two weeks ago when a photo editor at a
supermarket tabloid office died after inhaling anthrax spores that were
mailed to the newspaper. Five other employees at American Media Inc. have
been exposed to anthrax bacteria and have been put on antibiotics as a
precaution. More
recently, an employee at NBC News in New York City contracted cutaneous
anthrax after opening a letter addressed to news anchor Tom Brokaw that
contained the bacteria. In Nevada, a letter received at a Microsoft Inc.
office tested positive for the bacteria. Yesterday, a letter that
contained a substance that tested positive for anthrax was mailed to the
office of U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota. According to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, anthrax organisms "can cause infection in
the skin, gastrointestinal system or the lungs. To do, so the organism
must be rubbed into abraded skin, swallowed, or inhaled as a fine,
aerosolized mist. Disease can be prevented after exposure to the anthrax
spores by early treatment with the appropriate antibiotics. Anthrax is not
spread from one person to another person." The CDC said that "if the small
anthrax particles are inhaled, life-threatening lung infection can occur,
but prompt recognition and treatment are effective." Bal Ram Singh, a professor of
biophysical chemistry at UMass Dartmouth, said the most likely way anthrax
would be mailed would be in the form of spores, which could remain stable
in an envelope or package for months. If somehow ingested, anthrax can be
treated effectively with antibiotics, he said, even if the spores are
inhaled. He said anthrax usually takes several days -- and in some cases,
longer -- to do enough damage to kill someone. The anthrax scare has local
officials planning for all possibilities, and worried that their resources
will be stretched thin while responding to a flood of calls. "We're establishing guidelines to
deal particularly with white, powdery substances," said Fairhaven Police
Chief Edward Silva, who met with health and fire officials to discuss the
town's response to possible anthrax contamination. "We are being more
vigilant because people are concerned. I don't think anyone would pick up
an envelope right now without being concerned." Westport has already had its
share of anthrax scares, said Police Chief Michael Healy. When the town's
health center mistakenly received a letter from the Middle East addressed
to an Islamic-sounding name, there was a panicked reaction from the staff,
he said. "We picked it
up and sent it the FBI," he said. "We get there first, and then get it to
the proper authorities. We're not really trained in terrorism, we're
trained in crime prevention." Chief Healy said that responding
to calls about possible anthrax contamination does take time, and he
worried that people are overreacting. "When we responded to a woman who
was concerned about a parcel that was delivered to her house, we spent
five hours there and blocked off the road," he said. "People feel
comfortable when we respond." And, he said, the department is taking all
calls seriously.
Although Acushnet has not had any calls, Police Chief Michael Poitras said
town officials have adopted a policy coordinating the response of the
Police, Fire and Health departments to deal with the threat. "This is
really unprecedented in our history, dealing with a biological threat in
the mail," he said. "It does tend to make everybody antsy." |
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