NY magazine office set for anthrax tests

NEW YORK (CNN) -- An editorial assistant for The New Yorker magazine has tested "negative but non-conclusive" for a cutaneous (skin) anthrax infection, a spokeswoman for the magazine said Friday.

Perri Dorset said the test results came from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the New York City Department of Health.

MORE STORIES Four N.J. postal stations positive for anthrax  Clues sparse in anthrax investigation  Anthrax survivor: 'They can't possibly win'     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 Anthrax by the numbers 17 total anthrax infections   -- 10 cases inhalation anthrax (4 dead)   -- 7 cases cutaneous anthrax Source: CDC/CNN

A statement from the NYDOH said a blood test on the employee did not confirm the presence of antibodies that would indicate an anthrax infection, but a biopsy is not possible since the lesion the employee had is healed.

Dorset said the male employee opens mail as part of his job but doesn't recall a suspicious letter around the end of September, when he developed the skin lesion.

She said environmental tests are being conducted at the magazine's offices, and results are expected next week.

Meanwhile, a federal judge Friday denied an injunction from the New York Metro Area Postal Union to shut down a large processing facility in Manhattan, but did order the testing of another postal facility nearby.

In a preliminary decision, U.S. District Judge John Keenan said the union had not shown there is a "likelihood of irreparable harm" if the Morgan Processing and Distribution Center is not shut down.

The union filed a preliminary injunction to shut the facility down after six machines at Morgan tested positive for anthrax Oct. 26. The facility remained open while the machines and surrounding areas were decontaminated.

But William Smith, union president, said all Morgan employees were at risk, and he was not happy with the judge's decision.

"It seems like it was a political decision," he said.

Smith said he was pleased, however, that the judge had ordered the testing of the James A. Farley postal facility, which is connected to the Morgan center by an underground tunnel.

In his decision, Keenan said he would issue a full opinion on the matter in the near future.

Smith said the case is still open, and the union has not yet made a decision on whether to take any action against the judge's preliminary decision.

Meanwhile Friday, the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services said "several postal facilities in the Trenton area have tested positive for the presence of anthrax."

Spokesman David Jamison said that cross-contamination from other sites is suspected.

A postal service official, who declined to give his name, confirmed to CNN that "small traces were detected with minimal surface contamination" were found in four facilities. The discovery, the official said, "should have not much impact at all on the operations of these four facilities."