Anthrax Found in Pataki's Office

By SHANNON McCAFFREY, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - Gov. George Pataki said Wednesday that anthrax had been found in his midtown Manhattan office, the third time the dangerous germ has turned up in the city in less than a week.

No one was believed to have the disease in Pataki\'s office, but the governor said he had begun taking the antibiotic Cipro as a precaution.

He also said he didn\'t plan to be tested for the disease that has infected two other people in New York City. Three more have tested positive for exposure.

``I don\'t think it\'s necessary,\'\' Pataki said, who was advised by the state health commissioner on whether to be tested. ``I feel great.\'\'

A positive result from an initial anthrax test came back Wednesday morning and all 80 people working in the office were relocated. Results from more sophisticated tests are due by Friday, but Pataki said he was confident they would prove anthrax was present.

The source of the anthrax is under investigation but Pataki suggested it could have been tracked in by state police who have accompanied him to anthrax investigations at two news networks.

``The state police have been obviously at NBC, at ABC, all over the environs over the course of the past month,\'\' he said.

A suspicious letter prompted Pataki to order testing, but he said he didn\'t think the package is the source.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites) said Wednesday that the anthrax mailed to NBC appeared to match a strain discovered at a Florida tabloid publisher earlier this month. An employee of the company died of anthrax on Oct. 5.

The strain occurs naturally and responds well to antibiotics, CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said.

Matching strains do not necessarily mean the anthrax came from the same source. More tests would be needed to confirm that.

Elsewhere, city health officials gave a clean bill of health to the Rockefeller Center headquarters of NBC, where an assistant to anchor Tom Brokaw tested positive for the skin form of anthrax last week. Tests on some 500 employees came back negative.

An anthrax test of air filters at ABC\'s Upper West Side headquarters came back negative, the network said. On Monday, the 7-month-old son of an ABC News producer tested positive for anthrax after spending time at the facility. Other test results are pending.

The governor ordered the Capitol in Albany tested for anthrax. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (news - web sites) said city health officials have also tested City Hall and other agencies as a precaution. No results were immediately available.

At Pataki\'s office on Third Avenue between 40th and 41st streets, the substance was detected on a desk in the state police offices on the 39th floor. The area was not open to the public or large numbers of staff.

The anthrax testing began after the governor\'s secretary became concerned about a letter that arrived at the office a few days after its Sept. 25 postmark. She turned it over to state police, who found it did not contain any threats or suspicious substances, Pataki said.

Anthrax tests on her and two mail handlers were negative, Pataki said.

The governor and his staff refused to say who sent the letter or what prompted the concern. They did say the letter came from an organization within New York state; representatives of the organization have since been interviewed by state authorities.

Environmental tests in four areas of the governor\'s office were performed Monday night, after ABC News disclosed the baby\'s infection.

The governor\'s complex of offices on the 38th and 39th floors has been closed for further testing and decontamination work. It is expected to reopen Monday.

Rick Owen, a banker who had an appointment in the building Wednesday, said he is not worried but his wife is concerned.

``She already told me that when I get home I have to put my clothes in a bag,\'\' said Owen, of Boonton Township, N.J.