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CNN Live At Daybreak
Now Doctors Worry About Cross-Contamination From Anthrax Letters in the Mail
Aired October 31, 2001 - 08:08 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: How safe is your mail? Well, that is the key question in the month-long anthrax scare. Health officials are trying to determine whether dangerous spores have spread from deliberately-tainted letters to other pieces of mail.
Our medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here with us now to talk about the potential of cross-contamination. Good morning, Doctor.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
ZAHN: How possible is it that letters cross-contaminate each other?
GUPTA: Well, I'll tell you, Paula, we certainly have how spores might be able to contaminate a mail room over the past few weeks -- the whole issue of cross-contamination. We did an admittedly non- scientific simple experiment here at CNN, and I want to show you the demonstration.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Last week, in order to demonstrate how anthrax spores may have gotten outside an envelope, we took some standard talcum powder, put it inside a standard envelope, sealed it in a standard fashion. And then we tapped on it.
We found that the talcum powder, which is about 30 to 40 microns in size, actually came not only through the sides of the envelope, but through the paper itself. That's in comparison to anthrax spores, which are about 1 to 5 microns in size. You can't see them. Those are the ones that cause inhalational anthrax. We also called a few paper companies and found that the pores in most paper are about a hundred microns in size.
The question today is whether an envelope full of anthrax spores, or in this case, fluorescent orange talcum powder, could actually contaminate other envelopes. We filled this one up in our standard envelope, and we're going to throw it inside the mail bin after it's been sealed.
After putting the envelope in this mail bin, we jostled it around, trying to approximate what it might go through in a mail a facility, through a mail sorter. And then we stopped.
Now, with the naked eye we really don't see much. But bringing up this black light, you begin to see some areas of powder on envelopes. For example, this one, which appears to be covered in powder. And this one, which has powder around its edges.
Now, is it possible that anthrax spores -- or in this case, fluorescent orange powder -- could remain on the envelope as it is transported from a postal facility to the mailbox of your home or your business?
Well, we don't know. These are just demonstrations. But it might be a possibility.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: And, Dr. Gupta, I mean the other person, whose opinion carries a lot of weight, is Dr. Anthony Fauci...
GUPTA: Right.
ZAHN: ... who essentially said just that yesterday. This is certainly something that investigators have to be looking at the possibility of having happened out there.
GUPTA: Absolutely.
ZAHN: What was the impact of what he had to say? Doesn't that lend more credence to this potential theory?
GUPTA: Absolutely, Paula. Certainly, the issue of cross- contamination is a real one. We showed that it might contaminate a postal room, so the fact that the mail within that postal room could also be contaminated is of issue.
You know, one other important thing that we sort of learning as well regarding inhalational anthrax. Those spores that cause inhalational anthrax are usually spores that are easily aerosolized. I bring that up to say that if it actually cross-contaminated the outside of an envelope, easily aerosolized anthrax spores would be unlikely to actually survive a trip on the outside of an envelope to an individual resident's home or business. So while the issue of cutaneous anthrax is a little bit more easy to explain or understand here, inhalational anthrax is still a bit puzzling, at least with this theory.
ZAHN: Well, it was a fascinating demonstration, though. Thanks so much Doctor.
GUPTA: Thank you.
ZAHN: Appreciate it.
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