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

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Sun Dec 16 2001 - 10:17:44 PST

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    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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