It will be at least two more days before the University finds out whether a suspicious powder found on a keyboard in the Frist Campus Center Monday night contained anthrax.
Meanwhile, some members of the University community and health professionals are questioning the University's response to the incident.
Lauren Robinson-Brown, the University's director of communications, explained that the suspicious powder is now waiting to be tested for the presence of anthrax at a state facility. She said the University expects to have the results within two to four days.
There have been so many suspicious substances reported in recent days in New Jersey that state testing facilities are now backlogged, she explained. Because all the confirmed cases of anthrax found to date have come through the mail, testing powder found elsewhere is not a top priority.
Robinson-Brown explained that the University has not asked any individual to be tested for anthrax exposure because administrators do not want to cause panic. A statement posted on the University's homepage at 11:08 a.m. Tuesday said, "There is no need for medical testing of any individual unless the powder is identified as a dangerous biological agent."
But Bill Hughes, a member of the clinical faculties of Georgetown University Medical Center and George Washington University School of Medicine, said the University's approach was worrisome.
"If you accept that there's a possibility that the powder was anthrax, then the people in the area that could have been exposed should be notified," Hughes said. "It is well known that without notification it's quite possible for someone developing the early symptoms of anthrax to ignore them until they reach a stage where they might be untreatable.
"At the very least, the people who might have been exposed should be informed that they should report any symptoms," he added.
The 100-level of Frist was closed for several hours Monday night while a hazardous materials team removed the suspicious substance and sanitized the area. The ventilation system was turned off throughout the building to prevent the powder from spreading.
Hughes said he was surprised and troubled that the University would neglect to warn students who were on the 100-level of Frist Monday night to be on the lookout for flu-like symptoms.
Beginning Monday night, some students have expressed concern about the lack of information coming from the University about the incident.
"I would have liked to receive some notice," said Helene Goldsmith '02 in Frist on Monday night. "I keep checking my e-mail waiting for a message that says there is nothing to worry about. I have not received one yet. We can handle this information. It's not a a good idea to keep us uninformed — that just creates rumors."
On Monday, a team of hazmat experts sanitized the area where the powder was found and took a sample for testing. Emergency response officials did not find it necessary to call in the full hazmat team.
"The test results aren't back yet, but I can tell you that we're probably 99.9 percent sure that it is not anthrax," said Cpt. Anthony Federico of the Princeton Borough Police.
Federico explained that the police have set up a special process for responding to anthrax calls. Police respond first, and if they think the suspicious substance might be dangerous, they call the hazmat team.
Because of the unusually large number of cases in recent weeks, the hazmat team responds to each call by sending out two experts with bioprotective gear. If they decide that a more elaborate response is appropriate, they can call in the full team of about 15 people, Federico said.
Robinson-Brown said the University took all appropriate steps to deal with a possible anthrax threat.
"People must understand that you can't tax the resources of the emergency system when it is not a real emergency . . . What we had on Monday night was a report, and we treated it seriously, and a hazmat team was called in . . . the overall operation at Frist was even more stringent than the state guidelines require."
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