USA Combating Anthrax

The two died in suspicious circumstances and two more are suffering from anthrax inhalation. Just weeks ago, Tom Ridge joined President Bush's administration as head the new office of Homeland Security. Now the anthrax threat is giving him his first real test. And he's well aware of the dangers posed by the anthrax attacks.

Says Ridge, "We're fighting one war, but on two fronts." All of the postal workers effected work in the Brentwood facility, which has been closed and is now being disinfected.

Ivan Walks, Washington’s Chief Health Officer commented, "Officials now say it's likely the workers died from anthrax. Results from tests on the bodies are pending. Some two-thousand postal employees in the Washington

area are being tested for exposure and treated with anti-biotics as a precaution . The Brentwood office handles mail enroute to Capitol Hill.

House and Senate offices there remain closed as tests and disinfection continue. Postmaster General John Potter said there are still no suspects in the investigation. The U.S. government is offering a $1 million reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for mailing anthrax.

Meanwhile, police and firefighters in gas masks charged aboard a China Airlines Boeing 747 on Tuesday in a search for a white powder that turned out to be harmless coffee creamer and not deadly anthrax spores.

"It was coffee creamer," a China Airlines spokesman said in Taipei. Staff on the flight from Taipei discovered the powder on an oxygen tank in the upper deck after it landed in Hong Kong and passengers had disembarked.

A police spokeswoman said no one was injured or taken to hospital in the incident. There have been several anthrax scares or hoaxes in Hong Kong in the last week.