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CNN Saturday Morning News

Traces of Anthrax Found on Envelope in Seymour, Connecticut

Aired December 01, 2001 - 08:23   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Connecticut, where authorities have found a trace amount of anthrax on an envelope in Seymour. That's about one mile from the home of an elderly woman who died of inhalation anthrax.

CNN's Brian Palmer joins us live this morning from Oxford, Connecticut. He's been covering this ongoing story, especially the area where the woman lived -- good morning, Brian.

BRIAN PALMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Which is precisely where we are right now, Kyra.

Authorities still don't know how Ottilie Lundgren, the 94-year- old woman here in Oxford, Connecticut, contracted the anthrax that killed her. But with the discovery of this letter, a letter that bears very, very slight traces of anthrax, in neighboring Seymour, Connecticut, they feel they may be one step closer to learning.

Now, the Seymour letter passed through the same mail sorting machine and the same mail sorting facility in Hamilton Township, New Jersey where an anthrax tainted letter, an intentionally anthrax tainted letter sent to Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy was processed. They determined this by tracing the bar codes on the front of these letters.

Now, this is all significant because the Seymour, Connecticut post office handled this single unintentionally tainted letter as well as Mrs. Lundgren's mail, leading authorities to believe that there may have been some sort of cross-contamination.

They stress that since such a small amount of anthrax was found on this letter, it really isn't enough to kill anyone. But it gives them a clue, it gives them someplace to go, Kyra.

Now, previously authorities, investigators had tested Mrs. Lundgren's mail, her home, her trash as well as many places throughout the community that they frequent, that she frequented. They found no traces of anthrax. But since this letter has been discovered, they're going back into her home and essentially trying to stir up dust that may have, that may be sort of lying dormant to find any residual traces they may have missed the first time -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Brian, out of curiosity, the residents in the area, the community, what's the mood there? I mean do they, are they nervous about checking their mail or even the trash and the other places you said that have been checked?

PALMER: I think it is safe to say that people are concerned. We attended a town hall meeting last week where people addressed this same exact concern. They wanted to know is our mail safe, what are the chances of cross-contamination.

The authorities really rank that as a very low possibility on the list. But so little is really known about the virulence and the potency of anthrax, they're going to have to revisit all of their assumptions that they've had up until now -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Brian Palmer, thanks so much for that update. We'll talk to you later.

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