Left: A firefighter clad in a protective suit is sprayed down after inspecting and securing a suspicious letter at the ABC News television headquarters in Washington, D.C., today. Right ABC news anchor Peter Jennings walks past the door of ABC's headquarters building in New York City, October 16, 2001. A 7-month-old son of an ABC producer tested positive for anthrax exposure after visiting the building three weeks ago. (Reuters Photos)

Environmental tests under way at ABC to find anthrax source

By Alan Clendenning, Associated Press, 10/16/01

ABOUT ANTHRAX Anthrax becomes a weapon when bacteria (shown in top photo as small squiggles) are cultured into spores (larger clumps) and mailed. Anthrax background Anthrax Q & A Facts about anthrax ID tips for suspicious mail  GRAPHICS The disease Types of anthrax Anthrax as a weapon Inside an anthrax attack Disease facts Other bioterror threats Exposure Diagnosing anthrax Anthrax-fighting drugs Cleaning up contamination Suspicious mail What to look for Letters sent to Daschle, NBC  ANTHRAX EXPOSURES See complete list  LATEST NEWS Thousands of workers tested  FROM TODAY'S GLOBE Anthrax hits DC mail worker  REALVIDEO Inhaled anthrax in D.C. N.J. post office contaminated  RECENT COVERAGE 10/21/01 Anthrax in House mailroom N.H. mill was anthrax hot zone Anthrax may be domestic act Mexico rallies ranchers Mail workers receive antibiotics 10/20/01 Anthrax tied to single source Plans made in case of smallpox FBI eyes N.J. neighborhood Sales of Cipro limited 10/19/01 US: Germ was not 'weaponized' NY Post employee has anthrax CDC develops smallpox plan 2d NJ postal worker has anthrax 10/18/01 CBS staffer tests positive No new anthrax at Congress Small anthrax amounts in FL FBI offers $1m reward Anthrax found in Kenya letter Microsoft letter tests negative NJ postal workers has anthrax Pharmacist questioned on Cipro 60 on VT flight get antibiotics Thousands tested in DC 10/17/01 Two Feingold staffers exposed FDA publishes non-Cipro doses Cipro production increased FL, NY anthrax linked Pataki office exposed 10/16/01 Tests under way at ABC FBI: no direct link Man charged with hoax lie Several charged with hoaxes  CDC INFORMATION CDC: www.bt.cdc.gov/Agent /Anthrax/Anthrax.asp Hotline Number: 800-342-3557

NEW YORK - Environmental tests were conducted Tuesday at ABC's headquarters to try to pinpoint the anthrax source that infected a network news producer's infant son.

Tests on two floors of the Manhattan office building were almost finished Tuesday afternoon, but Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said it could be days before results are known.

ABC spokesman Todd Polkes said the boy and his mother spent time in news offices on the West 66th Street building's second floor and editing facilities on the third floor while they attended a birthday party last month for another employee.

Those areas were sealed off Tuesday but the two did not visit the studio where ABC's "World News Tonight" is broadcast, so the network can continue operating there, Polkes said. The child was hospitalized but has since been released.

ABC News President David Westin has said the boy developed the skin form of anthrax after spending time at the newsroom last month. The child is taking antibiotics and is expected to recover.

More than 100 ABC employees were interviewed by investigators but not tested for anthrax or put on antibiotics because authorities have not discovered the anthrax source.

The ABC building "is the focus of the investigation but it's not clear whether that's where the exposure took place," said Sandra Mullin, spokeswoman for the city's health department.

Giuliani said officials were still testing a number of media mailrooms around the city Tuesday after the tests began Monday. Initial tests of some mailrooms were negative, he said. Among the news organizations tested were The Associated Press, CNN, CBS, Fox, Daily News and New York Post.

About 10 newsroom and mailroom employees at the New York office of Bloomberg LP, a business news service, were sent to a hospital Tuesday for anthrax testing after an employee handled a letter with suspicious brown material on or inside the envelope, said company spokeswoman Chris Taylor.

The envelope, which was being tested, was addressed to the female broadcast news employee, Taylor said. The area where the woman works was sealed off, but that did not affect broadcast operations.

In New Jersey, authorities said Tuesday three letters mailed to NBC News anchorman Tom Brokaw mentioned anthrax in the text, including one that actually was tainted with the disease's spores.

The letter containing the bacteria that infected Brokaw's assistant was addressed by hand, and the envelope had "distinguishing characteristics," a state source familiar with the FBI investigation said on condition of anonymity. That letter was postmarked from Trenton on Sept. 18.

A second NBC employee who handled the letter has tested negative for anthrax, though authorities are still waiting for results of a final test, said Dr. Neal Cohen, the city's health commissioner.