WASHINGTON (Islamweb & News Agencies) - Thirty-one Senate employees tested positive for anthrax exposure, officials said Wednesday as the threat of bioterrorism rattled Capitol Hill. Hundreds more lined up nervously to be tested and leaders ordered the shutdown of the House and three Senate office buildings.(Read photo caption below) House leaders shut down operations through the weekend to allow for extensive testing. ``To ensure safety, we thought it best to do a complete sweep, an environmental sweep,'' said Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. The Senate announced plans to close all three of its sprawling office buildings, but in a gesture of defiance aimed at terrorists, made plans to convene on Thursday.
There was cause for bioterrorism concern elsewhere in a nervous nation, five weeks after terrorist attacks that killed more than 5,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
The midtown Manhattan office of Gov. George Pataki was shut down after an initial test detected the presence of anthrax. The governor announced that about 80 employees had been evacuated. ``The odds are very high'' that subsequent testing will confirm the presence of the bacteria, he said, although thus far, no one had become sick.
Congressional officials worked aggressively to ease public concern.
Three government officials said Wednesday, however, there was no evidence of any foreign or terrorist involvement in the powder contained in the letter to Daschle, although they continue to investigate that possibility. One official said there was evidence that could point toward a domestic culprit.
Long lines formed quickly as congressional employees sought tests and the three-day supply of precautionary antibiotics that health officials were distributing. Officials opened a second testing center, this one in the Capitol itself, to accommodate the demand.
PHOTO CAPTION:
A U.S. Capitol police officer stands outside the Capitol Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 17, 2001, in Washington. Congressional leaders ordered an unprecedented shutdown of the House on Wednesday after more than two dozen people in Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's office tested positive for exposure to a highly concentrated form of anthrax. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)