FC: U.S. Army was source for anthrax spores sent to Capitol Hill

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49502-2001Dec15.html

   Capitol Hill Anthrax Matches Army's Stocks
   5 Labs Can Trace Spores to Ft. Detrick
   
   By Rick Weiss and Susan Schmidt
   Washington Post Staff Writers
   Sunday, December 16, 2001; Page A01
   
   Genetic fingerprinting studies indicate that the anthrax spores mailed
   to Capitol Hill are identical to stocks of the deadly bacteria
   maintained by the U.S. Army since 1980, according to scientists
   familiar with the most recent tests.
   
   Although many laboratories possess the Ames strain of anthrax involved
   in this fall's bioterrorist attacks, only five laboratories so far
   have been found to have spores with perfect genetic matches to those
   in the Senate letters, the scientists said. And all those labs can
   trace back their samples to a single U.S. military source: the U.S.
   Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease (USAMRIID) at
   Fort Detrick, Md.
   
   "That means the original source [of the terrorist material] had to
   have been USAMRIID," said one of the scientists.

   [...]



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