Anthrax Hoaxes Strike Canadian Government Offices; Evacuations Ordered: 02 Feb 2001 http://www.emergency.com/2001/Canada_antrx_hoax.htm INSTANT - 02 Feb 2001 - 08:00CST: Anthrax Incidents Declared Hoaxes By Canadian Officials Late yesterday, a Canada intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told EmergencyNet News that the incidents in question were definitely "hoaxes," and that the packages did NOT contain anthrax. Few other official details were available and a major investigation continues into the incidents at the time of this report... CANADA: Bio-Terror Scares In Toronto And Ottawa... Toronto firefighters on Wednesday took a package that had been made to appear threatening from the mailroom of a government building. They were especially cautious after an incident in Ottawa. The package turned out not to be dangerous. In Ottawa on Tuesday, a bio-terrorism scare hit the Canadian capital after a "bacterial agent" was sent to the office of Elinor Caplan, the Canadian Immigration Minister. The downtown Ottawa building that houses the Minister's offices was sealed and five people, including the woman who opened the envelope containing a colored powder, were treated at a hospital with antibiotics as a precaution. The powder was flown by a Department of National Defense jet to the Canadian Science Center for Human and Animal Health in Winnipeg, one of only 15 facilities in the world capable of handling the deadliest viruses. Also sent to the Winnipeg facility were the filters from the Jean Edmonds building's ventilation system, which had been removed by firefighters. The five mail-room employees were isolated within the Immigration building before being transferred to Ottawa Civic Hospital where they received treatment. RCMP officers confirmed on Wednesday night they are treating the incident as a possible terrorist attack. It was the first time a Canadian government department has been targeted in this way. The Ottawa incident led to mayhem in Toronto when authorities reacted with greater caution than usual after being presented with a suspicious package in a government building. Nearly 2,000 government employees were forced from their offices across from the Queen's Park legislature while Toronto firefighters took the package from the mailroom. It was later determined to be a hoax. Officials at the Winnipeg lab were also examining a letter postmarked in Florida and sent to a Victoria Wal-Mart store that contained an oily substance. Several similar letters, purportedly contaminated with anthrax, were sent to U.S. businesses recently. The Ottawa alert came after one of the employees working in the Minister's office opened a plain white envelope at 11:15 EST on Tuesday. The employee discovered powder and a piece of paper in the envelope. Police refused to reveal where it had been sent from. A source said the letter "was not a threat. It was unsigned. It was mostly gibberish." The package was immediately sealed and sent to an Ottawa lab for examination before being flown to Winnipeg. An internal government memo distributed to staff said "an initial analysis of the envelope revealed some traces of bacteria." Richard Preston, author of "The Hot Zone," a true account about an Ebola outbreak, said the United States has assembled a team of experts who are consulted in incidents such as this to determine how serious the threat is. Preston said: "My guess is that the Canadian federal police are in touch with the U.S. FBI and with other bio-terrorism experts in the U.S. My gut feeling is that this is a hoax, based on two things. There have been a number of these in the U.S. which have proved to be hoaxes and any skilled bio-terrorist would not have sent anthrax in a package. The first effective bio-terrorism will happen when people just start dying in hospital emergency rooms." THE END ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?bUrHhl.bVKZIr Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: [email protected] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
