权威机构为国会山工作人员检测炭疽杆菌
WASHINGTON, Oct 16 (Reuters Health) - Health authorities on Tuesday tested hundreds of workers on Capitol Hill for anthrax, a day after a leading senator received a letter containing the potentially fatal bacterium.
Capitol Hill police sealed a wing of the Hart Senate Office building after a letter later confirmed to contain anthrax arrived at the office of Senate Majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-SD).
Authorities then set up booths where hundreds of Senate staffers and others lined up to receive the nasal swabs used to test for anthrax.
"I was told there was over an hour's wait," said Jill Gerber, who works for the Senate Finance Committee.
Workers were also given a 2-day supply of ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic effective at treating the illness, and told to return on Thursday for their test results.
"Those tests are going to be made available to anybody who feels they need one," Daschle told reporters. The tests are being given on a voluntary basis, and Daschle said that he knows of no senators who have been tested or treated for possible anthrax exposure.
Authorities also announced that Senate Chaplain Lloyd J. Ogilvie would be available to counsel any staff affected by the scare.
As the testing was going on, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson met separately with Republican and Democratic senators to ask them to fund the Bush administration's $1.5 billion request for massive purchases of antibiotics and anti-terrorism efforts.
Thompson told Reuters Health that infectious disease experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were performing anthrax testing on Capitol Hill but would not say how many personnel were present.
Several senators interviewed by Reuters Health said that Thompson talked about national terrorism issues and did not discuss the situation involving anthrax at the Capitol complex.
Daschle said that the anthrax scare was a disruption to Senate business, but that congressional members and their staffs should "live our lives, do our work, and carry on with our responsibilities.", 百拇医药
Capitol Hill police sealed a wing of the Hart Senate Office building after a letter later confirmed to contain anthrax arrived at the office of Senate Majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-SD).
Authorities then set up booths where hundreds of Senate staffers and others lined up to receive the nasal swabs used to test for anthrax.
"I was told there was over an hour's wait," said Jill Gerber, who works for the Senate Finance Committee.
Workers were also given a 2-day supply of ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic effective at treating the illness, and told to return on Thursday for their test results.
"Those tests are going to be made available to anybody who feels they need one," Daschle told reporters. The tests are being given on a voluntary basis, and Daschle said that he knows of no senators who have been tested or treated for possible anthrax exposure.
Authorities also announced that Senate Chaplain Lloyd J. Ogilvie would be available to counsel any staff affected by the scare.
As the testing was going on, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson met separately with Republican and Democratic senators to ask them to fund the Bush administration's $1.5 billion request for massive purchases of antibiotics and anti-terrorism efforts.
Thompson told Reuters Health that infectious disease experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were performing anthrax testing on Capitol Hill but would not say how many personnel were present.
Several senators interviewed by Reuters Health said that Thompson talked about national terrorism issues and did not discuss the situation involving anthrax at the Capitol complex.
Daschle said that the anthrax scare was a disruption to Senate business, but that congressional members and their staffs should "live our lives, do our work, and carry on with our responsibilities.", 百拇医药