Features

Nevada officials say all six people who had contact with letter test negative for anthrax

By Scott Sonner The Associated Press
Tuesday October 16, 2001

RENO, Nev. — All six people who had contact with a suspicious letter sent from Malaysia to a Microsoft office have tested negative for the inhaled form of anthrax, Nevada health officials said Monday. 

Health officials said they will now monitor the six — five Microsoft employees and a family member — for the less dangerous form of anthrax, which is contracted through the skin but is treatable with antibiotics. 

No one has become ill. 

“The negative nasal swab tests, combined with the physical condition and location of the letter, indicate that this is a very, very low risk situation,” said Barbara Hunt, Washoe County’s district health officer. 

State officials were waiting for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta to complete tests on the letter’s contents to confirm whether it was contaminated with anthrax. Results were expected Tuesday, Gov. Kenny Guinn said. 

Microsoft officials contacted health officials last week about the letter, which had been sent to the Microsoft Licensing Inc. office. 

Guinn said Microsoft had sent a check in the letter to a vendor in Malaysia. The letter was returned with the check, along with pornographic material. The vendor wasn’t identified. 

An initial test on the letter’s contents produced results “consistent with it being anthrax,” health officials said. The subsequent test was more specific to anthrax, but came back negative. A third test on the pictures tested positive for anthrax, Guinn said.