Anthrax scare blamed on mix-up at lab / ‘Quality control problems’ may have set off false alarms that rattled Wall Street — Interesting under-reported story that coincidentally took place during the period where options are closed for many stocks.

Washington — Health officials believe that a mix-up of samples in a Defense Department contractor’s laboratory was behind an anthrax scare Monday and Tuesday that rattled the stock market, set the White House on alert, shut three post offices in the Washington area and led to more than 800 people being offered antibiotics.

A senior military official said “quality control problems” at the contractor’s laboratory appeared to have caused the bioterrorism false alarm.

The Defense Department official declined to identify the contractor, which does routine anthrax testing on air filters from the Pentagon shipping facility. Another government official said it was a private laboratory in Richmond, Va.

Health experts said little danger existed even if the tests had proved the presence of anthrax in the buildings, because all mail entering the three buildings is routinely irradiated to kill dangerous germs. There was never a potential danger to the general public from ordinary mail or any other source, they said.

Hmm.. I never heard this before either. And since these are spores not bacteria does gamma radiation kill them? Here is what the Iowa Publich Health authorities say:

Can anthrax spores be killed on letters in the mail by microwave, UV light, or ironing?

These techniques are not recommended for decontamination of mail. Anthrax spores are resistant to drying, heat, ultraviolet light, gamma radiation, and many disinfectants. Furthermore, these methods may be unsafe. For instance, microwaving mail has been shown to cause fires.