Suspicious Letters in U.S., Australian Offices Contain No AnthraxThe suspicious letters received by the U.S. embassy and the Australian High Commission in Colombo did not contain anthrax bacteria, police said.Deputy Inspector General of Police Special Task Force (STF) Nimal Gunathilake said investigations conducted with the help of American officials have indicated that the letters contained only talcum powder. The Australian High Commission received a suspicious package on Friday while the U.S. embassy received two letters on Thursday. These letters suspected to carry anthrax were handed over to the STF on Friday evening. The police officer said that they would be sent to the Medical Research Institute for further investigations. The fear of anthrax has caused worldwide alert when mails containing anthrax were found in the United States after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Earlier this week, the Sri Lankan Health Ministry appointed a 12-member task force to draw up a program of precautionary measures to combat any outbreak of Anthrax. The report of a special study shows that there is no threat for the country to hit by the deadly anthrax bacillus. |
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