Anthrax found in three senators' offices

Trace amounts pose no risk, physicians say

By Dana Bash
CNN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Investigators have found three "hot spots" of anthrax contamination in the offices of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, Sen. Bob Graham, D-Florida, and Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, Capitol Hill police announced Saturday.

IN-DEPTH  VIDEO/AUDIO   •  Investigators baffled by 94-year-old woman's death  MORE STORIES   •  Gephardt: Anthrax cleanup 'tougher than expected'   •  Official: CIA uses anthrax, but no link to letters  EXTRA INFORMATION   •  Anthrax symptoms   •  Tracking the bacteria  RESOURCES   •  Advice on suspicious packages   •  Message board

Capitol Hill Police Lt. Dan Nichols gave no indication if the spores found in the Hart Senate Office Building had come from a new source. Investigators found them while conducting tests following the discovery of an anthrax-laced letter mailed to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota, he said.

"By all indications, this is a cross-contamination issue" in which other mail likely came in contact with the original Daschle letter, Nichols said in a news conference.

That did not surprise the Capitol's attending physician, Dr. John Eisold, who said there was no evidence that the trace spores posed a public health risk.

"The new discoveries are not unexpected," he said. "We have always been concerned about mail that has been contaminated by other mail."

Trace amounts of anthrax were found in the mailroom in Feinstein's office. A physician told Feinstein's staff that the medical risk is "virtually zero," officials said.

"I met with my staff this afternoon, and nobody reported medical problems associated with anthrax," Feinstein said in a statement.

A "small number of spores" of anthrax also were found in Graham's sixth-floor office on a desktop where mail is sorted, said Paul Anderson, the senator's spokesman. Officials also told Graham staffers that they did need anthrax treatment, since most of them had been tested weeks earlier for the disease.

The building has been closed since October 17, two days after the letter was opened. Half of the Senate's 100 members have office space in the building.