Dozens on Capitol Hill Exposed to Anthrax

W A S H I N G T O N, Oct. 17 -- Dozens of people on Capitol Hill have tested positive for exposure to what law enforcement officials say was professionally manufactured anthrax, and a health official says strains of the potentially deadly bacteria found in New York and Florida appear to match.

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Two days after a letter containing a white, powdery anthrax-contaminated substance was opened in Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's personal office in the Hart Senate Office Building, nasal swabs from 31 people tested positive for the presence of anthrax spores.

Those who were exposed include 23 members of Daschle's staff, three staffers for Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., whose office on the fifth and sixth floors of Hart Senate Office Building is adjacent to Daschle's, and five Capitol Police officers.

This evening, the Senate Sgt. at Arms sent a letter to all staffers on the fifth and sixth floors of the Hart Senate Office Building asking them to go on a 60-day regimen of Cipro. Previously, a three-day regimen was suggested.

"I'm concerned for my staff. I'm angered that this has happened. But I feel very confident … about the fact that everyone will be OK," said Daschle, D-S.D., noting that no one on Capitol Hill is known to have been infected with the disease.

The House was set to adjourn at the end of the day until Tuesday, but Senate leaders decided to keep their chamber in session through Thursday. All congressional office buildings will be vacated to allow authorities to sweep the Capitol complex for anthrax spores.

Authorities said this afternoon that the bacteria does not appear to have spread beyond the general vicinity of Daschle's office.

"The exposure has been confined to a very specific area," Dr. Kenneth Moritsugu, the deputy surgeon general, told reporters on Capitol Hill. "At this time there has been no evidence of spores in the ventilation system."