Anthrax analysis negative on items sent to UN

The United Nations system in Kenya on Friday confirmed that there was no evidence of anthrax contamination in two suspect items which had been tested. Director-General of the UN Office at Nairobi Klaus Toepfer wrote to staff on Friday to assure them that Kenyan Health Minister Prof Sam Ongeri had informed his office that the results of analysis in both cases tested were negative. Toepfer congratulated staff for the “professional, precautionary and confident way” they had handled the suspect postal items and related security alert, and urged them to continue being alert and vigilant in such matters. Kenyan health officials on Thursday confirmed that anthrax had been discovered in a letter sent to a private Kenyan citizen from Atlanta in the US, and received on Wednesday. Four members of the man’s family were exposed through the letter, which was sent on 8 September - three days before the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, USA - and routed through Miami, arriving in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on 9 October, Ongeri added. As of Friday, Kenya’s Ministry of Health had been given seven suspect packages for anthrax analysis, with six of those testing negative. The anthrax poisoning confirmed in Nairobi is the first such incident outside the US, though alerts and hoaxes have been reported around the world. Six cases of infection have been confirmed in the US - one fatal - and the fear is of some linkage between these and the 11 September terrorist attacks, though there is no evidence to support such theories so far. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had examined suspect materials in Kenya and was investigating any potential links exist to anthrax attacks in the US or the international campaign against terrorism, the American embassy in Nairobi stated on Friday. “These incidents again show that the threat of terrorism is worldwide,” said Ambassador Johnnie Carson. “American assistance and support will be made available to help protect Kenyans from bio-terrorism,” he added. Anthrax can cause severe - and sometimes fatal - infection of the skin, intestinal system and lungs but is treatable if caught soon after exposure. A suspect letter received at the UNEP office in Gigiri, Nairobi, on Wednesday raised suspicions because of the odd way in which stamps were applied and the address written. In light of concerns about that letter, a dusty parcel which had been sent to Habitat (the UN Centre for Human Settlements) was also tested, but neither was contaminated with anthrax, Nick Nuttall, Head of Media at UNEP told IRIN on Friday. Meanwhile, UN staff had implemented new health and security measures to deal with suspected anthrax cases correctly, and some 10 UN staff members had started receiving precautionary antibiotics - including senior UNEP official, Tore Brevik. “We have no reason to believe that the UN was targeted in any way but we will definitely remain on the alert, because the potential threat worldwide is not going to go away,” said Nuttall. “Neither do we think it’s a hoax; there was some form of contamination on the items [dust, grit or whatever] and staff became suspicious because of the heightened state of alert,” he added. Concern about anthrax has been increasing worldwide as cases were confirmed in the US - and then in Kenya on Thursday. The government of Kenya has set up a national task force to tackle the anthrax alert. However, the disease is endemic to Kenya [in cattle, sheep, goats, camels, antelopes, and other herbivores] and “should pose no undue stress and worry”, according to Health Minister Ongeri.