Suspect German anthrax case a hoax

BERLIN, Germany -- Suspect letters and packages feared to have contained anthrax have proven to be hoaxes, German officials have said.

The letter and two packages were initially thought to have been contaminated with anthrax after packets of white powder found inside the envelopes proved positive.

The items, sent to the eastern state of Thuringia and the northern state of Schleswig-Holsten, would have signalled the spread of U.S-style biological attacks in western Europe if they had proven positive.

But the national centre for disease in Berlin control gave the official all clear on Saturday after subsequent tests.

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"No anthrax spores were discovered in the suspect letter from Thuringia and the two packages from Schleswig-Holstein," the Robert Koch Institute said in a statement.

A man in Schleswig-Holstein faces up to three years in jail if found guilty after handing himself in to police in connection with the posting of 30 suspect packages he said he posted to mark his 30th birthday.

The German stockmarket had been hit by the initial test results. The DAX share index fell 1.1 percent on Friday, with one of the shares worst hit being Deutsche Post AG, the nation's postal agency, which tumbled six per cent.

Health Minister Frank Michael Pietzsch said one of the letters which had initially tested positive had been sent to an employment office in Rudolstadt.

He added, the three people in the employment office mailroom who had touched the letter, and seven others in the same room, were all tested.

He said workers called in authorities as the package appeared to contain a package of powder.

Pietzsch, who said there was no risk to the general public, said the letter had a return address in the Pakistani capital Islamabad but had been posted in Germany.

"The letter appeared to be unusual to the workers and they contacted police," said Pietzsch.

"It had been sealed with tape and there appeared to be a small package of powder in it. It was not opened. The workers' conduct was exemplary."

Samples were then flown to the Berlin centre.

The office where the letter arrived was briefly closed and disinfected.

Meanwhile, in Schleswig-Holstein Health Minister Heide Moser had told a news conference in the state capital Kiel that two parcels came up positive in initial tests for anthrax. Samples were also sent to Berlin for further tests after testing positive for anthrax in the city of Jena.

The parcels were among 21 packages found at several locations in the town of Neumuenster, including outside the city hall and in a forest, she said.

Germany has been hit by a series of false alerts for anthrax across the country in recent weeks, but until Friday no preliminary tests had so far proved positive.

A laboratory in Lithuania on Thursday found traces of anthrax in at least one mailbag from the U.S. Embassy in the Baltic republic, the first such discovery in Europe.