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Anthrax Anxiety Sweeps Through Canada
A series of evacuations were carried out across Canada Monday and Tuesday after suspicious powder was discovered in several locations including Parliament Hill.
A waterfront office tower in Halifax, the provincial city of the eastern province of Nova Scotia, was evacuated Tuesday morning, after packages of white powder were discovered on two floors, one of which houses the U.S. Consulate.
Earlier, a shopping mall in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia was evacuated after staff at a Zellers store discovered white powder in a carton that originated from Pakistan. The mall's ventilation system was shut down and the store sealed off immediately.
And in Saint John in the eastern province of New Brunswick, police are investigating two packages and two letters they considered suspicious.
Anthrax bacteria is yet to be found on Canadian soil. A spokesman for Canada Post said that mischief-makers could be at work and exploiting fears of bioterrorism in the general population.
The anthrax scares Monday at Parliament in Ottawa turned out to be false alarms. Dozens of people were quarantined after two mail handlers were thought to have contacted the bacteria.
Late Monday, the post office in Baie-Comeau in Quebec was evacuated after employees spotted a suspicious package. One employee said that traces of white powder were detected after it was handled and the Quebec post office remains closed as a laboratory analyzes the envelope.
Two Toronto-area postal stations were evacuated Monday over fears of bioterrorism. In the first incident, a Canada Post sorting office was evacuated after white powder spilled from an envelope. The substance turned out to be harmless.
Later, another postal station in Toronto was closed down after someone returned a suspicious package they had received. A bio- hazard team dealt with the package and the building was closed for the rest of the day.
Letter carriers across Canada handle thousands of pieces of mail a week and recent reports that terrorists may be using the mail to send anthrax spores have made some of them worried.
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