Three More in NYC Exposed to Anthrax

Oct. 14 -- A New York City police officer and two laboratory technicians who handled a letter sent to NBC are being treated for exposure to anthrax spores.

The three handled the same letter that was found to have traces of anthrax and was addressed to NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw. That letter is believed to be the one that caused Brokaw's assistant to test positive for cutaneous anthrax.

New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said all three new exposure cases are being treated with antibiotics. He said that based on the number of spores found in the three people they are not expected to face any complications.

"They are being treated," he said. "This does not mean they have anthrax."

Since the announcement Friday that Brokaw's assistant had anthrax, New York police have received more than 100 calls from panicked residents who feared they too might have been exposed.

"None of them have proven to be anything else but negative," Giuliani said.

Kenneth Cooper, an editor at the Boston Globe asked to be tested for anthrax two weeks after having received a threatening letter and afterwaking up on Saturday with flu symptoms, according to Reuters.

More Possible Florida Exposures

Anxiety about the disease has spread across the country, fanned by the announcement Saturday that five more employees of American Media Inc. in Boca Raton, Fla., tested positive for possible exposure to anthrax. That brought the total number of exposure cases there to eight. One of the eight died after inhaling anthrax spores.

The five new Florida exposures were found after preliminary blood tests suggested exposure to anthrax. In New York, anthrax spores were found in the noses of the police officer and a lab technician and on the face of a second technician.

"It means they had an exposure," American Media spokesman Gerald McKelvey told The Associated Press. "It doesn't mean they have anthrax."

"They are all fine," American Media spokesman Gerald McKelvey said about the five employees. "They have been reporting to work. They are takingtheir medication."