More anthrax found in Senate's Hart building

By Dana Bash
CNN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Investigators have found traces of anthrax in two more places in the Hart Senate Office Building, Capitol Police spokesman Lt. Dan Nichols told CNN Thursday.

Nichols said anthrax was found on the ninth floor in the filter of the ventilation system that runs through the southeast quadrant of the building.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's office is on the fifth and sixth floors of that part of the building. The office on the fifth floor is where an anthrax-laden letter was opened October 15.

Nichols said the ventilation system was turned off approximately 30 minutes after the letter was opened.

The other area where traces were found was on stairwell between the eighth and ninth floor.

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Nichols said that on the day the letter was opened Daschle staffers were taken up the stairs from the fifth and sixth floors to the ninth floor, which is essentially a large conference room. It was here the staffers were given nasal swab tests.

Despite the new developments, Nichols said Dr. John Eisold, the Capitol physician, was not advising those who work on floors other than the fifth and sixth to take a 60-day course of antibiotics.

"This area will be remediated," said Nichols. "This is not unexpected. We're following the pattern of the letter and the pattern of the flow of the substance -- how it moved through the building."

Late Wednesday night, investigators found traces of anthrax outside a freight elevator on the first floor of the southwest quadrant of the building.

Daschle told reporters Thursday afternoon health officials recommend that anyone who was around the freight elevator should take antibiotics. He said anyone who rode the elevator should take the full 60-day regimen of antibiotics.

Meanwhile, the cleanup process began in the mailrooms of the Dirksen Senate Office Building and the Ford House Office Building. After a antibacterial foam is applied, the rooms will be sealed for an unspecified time.

The Cannon and Rayburn House office buildings and the O'Neil storage annex reopened Thursday. The Ford House Office Building is due to reopen Friday and the Longworth House Office Building on Monday.