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Anthrax: Photocopiers Might Have Spread Spores U.S. investigators believe photocopiers helped spread anthrax spores throughout the American Media Inc. headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., believed to be the site of the first infections in last fall’s anthrax attacks, the Palm Beach Post reported Sunday (see GSN, Sept. 11). During their renewed search of the AMI building, FBI agents discovered that each of the more than two dozen photocopiers within the building tested positive for anthrax, according to a source familiar with the investigation. The spores are believed to have entered the photocopiers via copy paper that had become tainted in the building’s mailroom, where it was stored, according to the Post. Investigators believe that someone opened an anthrax-tainted letter in the mailroom, spreading spores to the copy paper. AMI employees further distributed the spores by taking supplies of copy paper to every department in the building, according to the FBI’s reconstruction of events. When the paper was placed into the photocopiers, the machines’ fans and other moving parts dislodged and spread the spores, the Post reported. The FBI’s discovery of how anthrax might have been spread throughout the AMI headquarters could provide information for studies on how spores travel throughout buildings, the Post reported (see GSN, June 27). “No doubt, whatever they discover will be significant, because it will be a one-time opportunity to see what happened,” said Keith Ward, program manager in the Biomolecular and Biosystems Group at the U.S. Office of Naval Research. “The problem is we don’t have a lot of experience with this sort of thing” (John Murawski, Palm Beach Post, Sept. 15). “Amerithrax” Could Be New Unabomber Case U.S. sources have said the FBI’s renewed search of the AMI headquarters was a last-ditch attempt to find clues in the bureau’s “Amerithrax” investigation into last fall’s attacks — an investigation some have compared to the search for the Unabomber (see GSN, Sept. 12). “It’s a fair assessment,” said a senior-level law enforcement source familiar with the investigation. “I think many of us are resigned to the fact this could be another Unabomber case.” “The only way we may ever find this guy is if he says the wrong thing to the wrong person at the wrong time,” the source said. “That could be next week. It could be eight years. It could be two decades” (David Kidwell, Knight Ridder/St. Paul Pioneer Press, Sept. 16). For further information, see: GSN Anthrax Attack Chronology (Dec. 12, 2001) CDC Frequently Asked Questions About Anthrax Journal of the American Medical Association Background on Anthrax
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