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CNN Live Event/Special

Anthrax Scare: Anthrax on Many Minds, Now

Aired October 10, 2001 - 06:33   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Anthrax is something most people didn't think about before last week, but as CNN's Ed Lavandera reports, now it's something some people can't stop thinking about.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A second round of people show up at the Palm Beach County health clinic for a medical test most of them had never heard of until a few days ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's fast and quick. Just got a nose swab and that's it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They did a chest x-ray and that's fine.

LAVANDERA: More than 700 people who either worked at or had recently visited the offices of American Media, Incorporated - the parent company of tabloids like The Sun and the National Inquirer - have now been tested for possible exposure to anthrax.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to wait for results and hope nothing's positive. It's hard to avoid things because you don't know what. Do you not eat food? Do you not open your mail? We'll not open our bills. We'll send them back.

TOMMY THOMPSON, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: We have been able to narrow down that the inhalation anthrax comes from that building and it has been conclusively proven that it is the same in both individuals.

LAVANDERA: The office building where the two anthrax cases were discovered is still closed as health investigators search for the source. The FBI is examining a possible connection to the September 11th attacks, but the investigation is much broader than that. But there are no suspects at this point, so the pressing issue now is determining where the anthrax came from.

DR. JEAN MALECKI, DIRECTOR, PALM BEACH COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT: Whether it is a naturally occurring strain or other type of strain that information right now is being looked at by again what Dr. Rich said high technology.

LAVANDERA: Law enforcement sources say a key part of the investigation will be the nasal swabs taken from people who worked at the American Media building. Because there were so many tests the results will take longer than the usual couple of days to come back.

(on camera): As the FBI continues its investigation, health officials are reminding people that there is no public health threat, and that as far as they know right now, this is an isolated incident.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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