Hamilton complex scrutinized by FBI after discovery of third anthrax letter

A third letter containing anthrax was postmarked in Trenton and processed in the Hamilton Township mail facility that handled the letters sent to NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw and Sen. Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), New York city police officials said Saturday.

The letter, sent to the New York Post, was postmarked Sept. 18, the same day as the letter sent to NBC News and bears similar handwriting, officials said.

The discovery prompted a reevaluation of the mail facility located about 10 miles south of the University. Significant amounts of anthrax have been found throughout the facility, acting State Health Commissioner George DiFerdinando said yesterday.

Given the proximity of the campus to the Trenton mail complex and continued law enforcement encouragement, the McCosh Health Center, like other regional health facilities, will be more alert to anthrax symptoms, University Health Services Director Pamela Bowen said.

"[Health services is] on the look out for symptoms of anything unusual that could indicate a biological agent such as anthrax," Bowen said.

"I don't think there is any reason to suspect a suspicious package will turn up on campus," University Spokeswoman Marilyn Marks said last week. "We want to make sure that people here, as elsewhere, are aware and cautious."

Though anthrax has been found inside the Hamilton postal complex, no anthrax had been detected in the public areas of the office, DiFerdinando said. That greatly decreases the likelihood that infections have spread beyond facility workers.

The more than 300 postal employees at the facility began antibiotic therapy after test results confirmed a second worker had a skin infection of anthrax.

More than 150 FBI and other police agents continued to search the building yesterday as efforts shifted focus to the mail delivery route of one of the infected postal workers.

FBI Assistant Director in Charge Barry Mawn said in a press release that the source of the anthrax-laced letters had not been determined, but he confirmed the investigation's focus on a small area in a suburban West Trenton neighborhood.

The Hamilton processing center and the West Trenton Post Office remain closed as the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services continues to test environmental samples from the two facilities for anthrax.