By John P. McAlpin, Associated Press, 10/18/01

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

TRENTON, N.J. -- A postal worker who may have handled letters sent to an NBC anchor and a U.S. Senate leader has skin anthrax, Acting Gov. Donald T. DiFrancesco said Thursday.

Test results for a second postal employee who may have been exposed to the disease were pending, DiFrancesco said during a Statehouse news conference with state and federal officials.

Both employees were being treated by personal physicians and taking antibiotics, DiFrancesco said.

"Both are doing well," he said.

Officials with the federal Centers for Disease Control were en route to New Jersey to decide if additional tests are warranted for other postal employees, the acting governor said.

No other cases have been reported at the facility, located just outside Trenton in Hamilton Township. The office was closed Thursday.

"We're doing everything we can to protect the health and safety of the public," DiFrancesco said.

This week, authorities said a female mail handler and male maintenance worker were undergoing tests for possible exposure to anthrax. Both employees had been working on days when the tainted mail would have been processed at the facility, officials said.

They would not say Thursday which one had skin anthrax.

The Hamilton facility collects mail from 46 postal offices throughout central New Jersey.

A Sept. 18 letter tainted with anthrax was postmarked Trenton and mailed to NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw. The other letter postmarked from Trenton was mailed to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle.

An aide to Brokaw, along with a police officer and two lab technicians, were exposed to anthrax. More than 30 workers in Daschle's Senate office were exposed. All are being treated with the antibiotic Cipro.

Postal officials have been examining video surveillance tapes to try to determine the source of the letters. They are also examining the envelopes for clues; both envelopes were pre-stamped.

Officials are also examining the black-and-white striped computer lines that route the mail. The bar codes give a date and approximate time the letters were processed, Postal Inspector Tony Esposito has said. Other information from the bar codes eliminated many post offices from the search, he said.

Meanwhile, federal officials questioned at least two New Jersey pharmacists about anyone buying large amounts of the antibiotic Cipro prior to Sept. 18, when the first of the two tainted envelopes was mailed.

Pharmacist John Berkenkopf, who owns Episcopo's Pharmacy in Trenton, said two officials with the Food and Drug Administration questioned him Wednesday for about 10 minutes about anyone who bought between 60 and 120 tablets of the antibiotic.

Cipro is usually prescribed for 7-14 days, which is about 10 or 20 pills, Berenkopf said.

"Any more than that would ring all kinds of bells," he said.

Special Agent Sandra Carroll, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Newark office, would not say whether any pharmacies had reported making large sales of the drug to anyone.

She said it "would stand to reason" that authorities would be suspicious of anyone seeking large amounts of Cipro that might be used to protect themselves when handling or working around anthrax spores.