Employee of Dan Rather Has Anthrax
October 18 -- Anthrax cases have now shown up at all the major networks, as CBS reveals that a network employee in Dan Rather's office has the cutaneous form of the disease.This form of the potentially lethal disease is the same one that infected an assistant of NBC anchor Tom Brokaw several weeks ago and the seven-month-old child of an ABC News employee, officials say.CBS News president Andrew Heyward announced that the unnamed employee "is being treated with antibiotics and is expected to make a full recovery. In fact, she feels fine."
It was not immediately known how the employee became infected, but CBS and city officials said the woman had handled mail. She experienced swelling in her face on Oct. 1 and reported her symptoms to health officials. Most of the cases of anthrax exposure reported so far across the United States have come from the mail.
Anthrax was also mailed to New York Governor George Pataki's office and to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. A chilling note warning, "You've been exposed to anthrax. You're going to die," was in the letter sent to Daschle's office, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass, told The Associated Press. Thirty-one people in Washington have tested positive for exposure to anthrax, and are now on antibiotics, while hundreds more are being tested. The strain of anthrax found at the first site, a Florida publishing company, matches anthrax mailed to NBC in New York, preliminary tests show.
Fox's crime-busting series, America's Most Wanted, which has already featured a special episode dedicated to the 22 "most wanted" terrorists, is now on the case of the anthrax mailer in conjunction with with the FBI and the U.S. Postal service, Entertainment Tonight reports. They are offering a million dollar reward for tips that lead to the arrest of the culprits.
Reuters contributed to this story.
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