Letter to Nevada Microsoft office tests 'presumptively positive' for anthrax

10/13/2001

By BRENDAN RILEY
Associated Press Writer

CARSON CITY, Nev. - State officials said Friday that they're analyzing pornographic material sent in a letter from Malaysia to a Microsoft office in Reno that has tentatively tested positive for anthrax.

Officials said additional tests were being conducted at a state Health Division laboratory to confirm the presence of anthrax on the material. Also, health teams were contacting Microsoft employees to determine who might have handled the letter.

Gov. Kenny Guinn confirmed the letter had been sent to the Microsoft Licensing Inc. office and that it had come from Malaysia. He said Microsoft officials contacted health officials Wednesday.

Microsoft Corp. spokesman Matt Pilla in Redmond, Wash., confirmed the Reno office was part of the software giant's operations. He said he had not heard about the letter but would investigate.

Guinn also said he was glad the state's emergency management system "worked very well" in handling the situation. He added employees at the company who became suspicious followed proper steps in alerting authorities.

Dr. Randy Todd, the state epidemiologist, said the Washoe County Health Department and the FBI are involved in the investigation, which began after one company employee got a returned letter that "just didn't look right."

Todd said the letter had been opened and appeared to have been moistened and then dried out. The governor said Microsoft had sent a check in the letter to a vendor in Malaysia, and the check was still in the letter, along with the pornographic material. The vendor wasn't identified.

Todd said that in the testing "we got a number of things growing, including bacillus, the genus to which anthrax belongs."

A further test to see whether the bacillus was anthrax produced results "consistent with it being anthrax," Todd said. "But we'd like to have one more test at a minimum and maybe two more."

"There's more at this point that we don't know than we do know," he added.

"This is a cause for some concern. It is not a reason for anyone to be panicking at this time," he added. "We have nobody who is ill."

Barbara Hunt, Washoe County district health officer, said she couldn't confirm the material was anthrax because test results were pending.

"My understanding is a letter was received that looked suspicious," Hunt said. "There are a number of criteria for a letter that might be suspicious and the individual was smart enough to have it analyzed."

Anthrax, whether the inhaled or skin variety, is caused by spores of Bacillus anthraces, the anthrax bacteria that are mainly a livestock disease. The infection is hard to diagnose and difficult to cure once symptoms start.

Reno Mayor Jeff Griffin said public attention to terrorist threats apparently paid off in his city.

"Thank God the average citizen now has a heightened level of awareness," Griffin said. "They saw something suspicious and reported it to the proper authorities. Now, the appropriate agencies are taking over."