Anthrax Investigation: UPDATE

TRENTON, N.J.: Anthrax has been found in the office mailbox of a Hamilton woman with skin anthrax, the state's only victim outside the postal service, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said Friday.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Thompson called the finding "a good sign," since it could provide more clues of how the accountant acquired the bacteria.

Officials have been trying to determine if the woman contracted the disease through the mail or another way.

Thompson also said one of the suspected cases of the skin variety of anthrax has been confirmed, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 17. Seven of those are skin anthrax, and 10 are the more dangerous inhalation type.

Thompson also warned that more people could fall ill from anthrax-tainted letters. Acting Gov. Donald DiFrancesco has asked federal officials for help in the effort to track the infection's path from three tainted letters to the seven people now believed to have the disease. The new Office of Homeland Security has been asked to send forensic experts, lab personnel, medical investigators and other staff.

The intent is for the experts and state investigators to find out how the anthrax got through the postal system and infected at least one person outside the system.

"The national public health infrastructure must be mobilized to assist New Jersey's handling of these anthrax related challenges just as the nation's emergency response infrastructure was mobilized to assist New York City after the attacks of Sept. 11," DiFrancesco wrote in a letter to Tom Ridge, who heads the security office.

Postal officials said New Jersey had 1,044 postal facilities throughout the state as of 1999, the most recent date for which the tally was available.

The state also asked for more help with the criminal investigation.

DiFrancesco made the request after a 54-year-old Delaware man became the first suspected infection in the state outside the Trenton area, where three anthrax-tainted letters were mailed to New York and Washington; the letters had been processed at the Hamilton mail processing facility.

The man worked in the Bellmawr regional mail processing plant, which remained closed Friday.

New Jersey has five confirmed cases of anthrax and two other suspected cases. All but one are postal workers. One of the victims of inhalation anthrax remained hospitalized Thursday in fair condition.

(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Author: 6 - ABC, Action News