Follow-Up Pentagon Tests Are Negative for Anthrax (washingtonpost.com)

It’s good news, at least. Let’s hope false alarms don’t become any sort of regular event, since such things tend to make people complacent about their health and safety.

The latest test results of the samples taken at a Pentagon mail facility were negative for anthrax, a spokesman for the Defense Department announced this evening.

The statement by Dr. William Winkenwerder, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, came after federal officials announced earlier in the day that preliminary results were positive. Public health officials put about 850 federal workers on prophylactic antibiotics and issued a bulletin to doctors, public health officials, clinics and hospitals to be on the alert for signs of the disease.