The University is suspending delivery of outside mail, two days after the discovery of a small amount of anthrax prompted the closure of the main Princeton post office, which is located off of Route One.
Lauren Robinson-Brown '85, University Director of Communications, explained that the University's mail normally flows through the now-closed facility.
"There's no reason to believe, unless there is a suspicious letter that meets the guidelines we have posted on the website, that any mail we receive has anthrax contamination," she said. "Any measure we take is precautionary in nature."
Robinson-Brown explained that the University is putting its mail handling staff through a compulsory safety-training program.
She added that members of the mail-handling staff are not being tested for anthrax. "The state hasn't changed their guidelines in terms of what they will respond to in providing testing of people, places or substances, and in terms of independent resources, resources are being taxed and so there's just no one available to do it," she explained.
The University has also chosen not to offer antibiotics to its mail handling staff. "I have to emphasize, our health officials do not want people on antibiotics unless a high index of suspicion has been reached. If people are over-medicated, it will actually prevent health officials from responding with reasonable means. They're not going to, as a precaution, put people on prophylactic treatment," Robinson-Brown said.
"Given that the processing of mail in various parts of the country, including New Jersey, has slowed down, we are being appropriately sensitive and flexible with respect to our deadlines," a statement posted on the University's admissions website said. "We assume (hope) that you have made copies of your application."
Meanwhile, the FBI has continued working on campus. "Our focus has centered around New Jersey, and yes, the Trenton area," an FBI spokeswoman said. The University has repeatedly stated that it is not engaged in any biological research with anthrax.
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