SA ANTHRAX SCARE 2

FIFTEEN East London postal workers were admitted to the Frere Hospital for observation on Tuesday after coming into contact with a white substance found in an envelope while sorting mail. The hospital’s medical superintendent Dr Eswari Rajeev said all 15 were placed in the isolation ward for observation before being discharged they were found to be clinically stable. The hospital would wait for police laboratory results before deciding whether the patients needed further medical treatment. ”They have also been told that if they show any symptoms they need to contact us urgently for a follow-up examination,” Rajeev said. A worker in the distribution section at the post office said that mail sorting had returned to normal and the 15 workers admitted to hospital were expected to report for duty on Wednesday. Disaster management representative Inspector John Fobian said the sorters were busy sorting mail around 3am when they came across an envelope from a foreign country that appeared to contain white particles. Radio control was contacted and members of the police and fire and rescue department cordoned off the area. Fobian said the envelope was removed and would be sent to the Pretoria forensic laboratory for tests. The area was disinfected. – Sapa