"ANTHRAX" THREATS - USA *********************** Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 Source: Indianapolis Star/News, 30 Oct 1998, edited The FBI is investigating letters claiming to contain anthrax bacteria delivered Friday to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Indianapolis and four others in three states. Threatening letters were also delivered to Planned Parenthood clinics in Bloomington and New Albany, said Delbert Culp, president of Planned Parenthood of Central and Southern Indiana. Women's Health Services, a private abortion clinic in Louisville, Ky., received a similar threat, FBI special agent Charles E. Riley III said. Other clinics in more states are reportedly investigating similar incidents. There are no suspects. At least 31 people were treated for possible exposure to the deadly biological toxin at a Planned Parenthood clinic at East 21st Street and Ritter Avenue in Indianapolis. The 31 people included two police officers, two firefighters, and the postal carrier who delivered the letter. The Planned Parenthood clinic on the Eastside received a letter with a Cincinnati postmark shortly after 1 p.m. Friday with a simple message -- "You have been exposed to anthrax," according to the Indianapolis Fire Department. Police and health and safety workers swooped in soon after to quarantine the people in the building. At least a dozen professionals from the fire department's hazardous materials team entered the building in white decontamination suits with surgical masks and safety glasses to treat those inside. After being stripped and scrubbed down, the people in the clinic were being taken to Wishard and Methodist hospitals late Friday afternoon. It was unclear if the letter actually contained anthrax [_Bacillus anthracis_]. But even if it was a hoax, it looked real, according to fire Lt. Jack Cassaday. "It looked like Anthrax so whoever sent it knew enough to package it the right way," he said. The substance was being tested at a local lab, Cassaday added. "No one is sick, no one is experiencing pain," said Maj. Tim Horty of the Indianapolis Police Department. Clinic administrators isolated the envelope in the clinic, but didn't say where or how, Horty said. Police evacuated all other stores in the strip mall and immediately quarantined the clinic. It was not immediately clear whether the letter contained anthrax or any other biological agent. "We do not know that. But we are handling it as if it were," Horty said. "The people who were exposed are not in any danger," Cassaday said. The hospitals and 911 have been inundated by calls from people in the area who think they might have been exposed, Cassaday said. "No one who was not inside the clinic could have possibly been exposed," he said. Horty said he didn't know if the clinic had any previous threats. Clinics in New Albany and Bloomington were not evacuated, authorities said. Authorities are in the process of having the powder analyzed and hope to know by late Sunday night or early Monday whether it is anthrax, said Virginia A. Caine, Marion County Health Department director. "We receive threats from time to time, but nothing very substantial. The employees here did the appropriate thing. This did not look suspicious until they opened it," Culp said. "These are just political extremists who call themselves pro-life. This is not pro-life. This is trying to strike down 29 people with a deadly disease." [Written by: Stephen Beaven] =========================================================================== /`\ /`\ RABBIT INFORMATION SERVICE: _ _ (/\ \-/ /\) P.O.Box 30, Riverton, Western Australia 6148 (.\_/.) )6 6( http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm \6 6/ >{= Y =}< VEGETARIAN PAGE =\ /= /'-^-'\ http://www.geocities/RainForest/4620 /O\ / (_) (_) / \ ( | . | U U ) | |} Pity the human race its illusion of permanence (| |)/ \_/^\_/ w'-'w ===========================================================================
