Anthrax found in ABC mailroom last week

NEW YORK (CNN) -- City Health Department officials said Wednesday anthrax was found in a second floor mailroom at ABC network headquarters in Manhattan. The health department received the positive test results last week.

"Two spots were found and they were both decontaminated," said department spokeswoman Sandra Mullin. "The finding does not present a health risk to anybody in the building."

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According to the health department, second floor employees were displaced during the decontamination process, but they are all back at work.

ABC Vice President Jeff Schneider told CNN environmental sampling at network headquarters started on October 15, the day the infant son of an ABC news producer was diagnosed with skin, or cutaneous, anthrax.

The 8-month-old child developed symptoms consistent with anthrax exposure after a September 28 visit to the network's newsroom.

"We tested 126 samples over the course of two weeks and were reporting the results ... as we got them back," Schneider said. "On the final day we received results, which was last Tuesday, we found out that two out of the 126 samples had tested positive for anthrax."

The positive finding links the infant's exposure directly to ABC and suggests the anthrax came through the mail, although no contaminated letter has been found in the building.

The baby "was discharged weeks ago from the hospital in stable condition and her health continues to improve," said Todd Polkes of ABC public relations.

An article about the child's case of skin anthrax, complete with photos, can be accessed at www.nejm.org, the Web site for the New England Journal of Medicine. A hard copy will appear in the November 29 issue.