Anthrax Uncovered in U.S. Embassy Mailbags in Lithuania

1 November 2001 VILNIUS, 1 November (BNS)--Lithuania's top microbiology laboratory reported it found anthrax in mailbags from the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius.

Director of the Lithuanian Public Health Center's Microbiology Laboratory in Vilnius, Kazimiera Rutiene said they isolated the anthrax pathogen, Bacillus anthracis, on 1 November.

"We found the anthrax pathogen in one of five mailbags the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius gave us to check," she told BNS.

The mailbags were sent to the lab on 30 October for testing. Over two days, the anthrax grew in culture from a sample taken from one of the bags. A mouse exposed to the culture was infected with anthrax and died.

Rutiene said all five U.S. Embassy mailbags have since been exposed to high temperatures and are sterile now.

The laboratory itself took security measures to protect its staff after uncovering the pathogen. Lab workers are currently taking antibiotics as a preventative measure.

U.S. Embassy Vilnius staff are also taking antibiotics. The mail sorting room at the embassy has been sealed off pending disinfecting.

Lithuanian epidemiologists said the anthrax pathogen found in the mailbags doesn't pose a direct threat to public health in Lithuania.

Deputy director of the Lithuanian Infectious Disease and Prevention Center Vytautas Bakasenas said that only the embassy's diplomatic postal courier had come into contact with the mailbags when they were transported from an airplane to the embassy.

All U.S. Embassy staff who deal in any manner with correspondence have been placed on antibiotics and are under medical observation.

Anthrax isn't spread by casual personal contact.

On 30 October the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius reported that it, like other U.S. embassies around the world, was temporarily halting postal correspondence with the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C.

The U.S. State Department's mailroom was discovered to be infected with anthrax earlier in the week, and a diplomatic pouch received by the U.S. Embassy in Peru was confirmed to contain anthrax spores, the first case of postal anthrax found outside the United States.

American officials are taking measures to sweep the State Department and other U.S. government institutions clean of anthrax and to insure the security of U.S. mail. The discovery in Vilnius reported today is the first known case of postal anthrax in Europe.

Over recent weeks a number of hoaxes involving anthrax and the mail have been reported in Lithuania, mainly in the capital city. The sender or senders sent short messages with Arabic phrases written according to Lithuanian phonetic rules in envelopes containing white powder. The U.S. Embassy, the Lithuanian president's mailroom, and the daily paper Respublika were among those who received the "black" mail. Tests at the Public Health Center's Microbiology Laboratory revealed none of the white powder was anthrax. Even so, many Lithuanians remain worried their mail could contain the deadly pathogen.