No results yet on suspicious WWS letter

A New Jersey state laboratory has not yet determined whether the oily, paint-like substance that was found in a letter opened in Robertson Hall last week contained a biological or chemical agent. A hazardous materials team retrieved the letter last Tuesday before sanitizing the office in which it was found.

According to University Director of Communications Lauren Robinson-Brown '85, the state has told the University to expect the results of an anthrax test on the letter by tomorrow.

Borough Police declined to describe the text of the letter, which was sent from Canada and bore no return address. Robinson-Brown said that although the police have not released the letter's text, "we do know it was threatening."

University officials, Borough Police and the Trenton hazmat team have said that they consider the letter to be suspicious. According to guidelines posted on the University website, oily stains on a letter are reason for suspicion. The University has offered antibiotics to the two employees who handled the letter.

All the recent bioterror incidents have involved anthrax, prepared as a dry, white powder. According to Robinson-Brown, the oily, paint-like substance in the letter "was not in the powdery form that is conducive for the spread of anthrax."

The Centers for Disease Control's bioterrorism website includes information on a variety of other biological and chemical agents, besides anthrax, which could be used by terrorists.

Dennis McGowan, a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, said anthrax is the only agent for which the state lab will test the suspicious letter. "That's all we can do in our lab," he said.

McGowan said the state has received 1,634 suspicious letters, of which 1,498 have been tested for anthrax so far. None has tested positive.

McGowan explained that each letter sent to the state lab is subjected to a "culture test." A sample from the letter is put in a nutrient medium, which is then monitored for anthrax growth over 48 to 72 hours.