New York suffered its first case of inhalation anthrax on Tuesday and spores were detected in three more postal facilities in the Washington area and Florida as U.S. authorities battled to find those responsible for the germ warfare attacks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed on Tuesday that a critically ill Manhattan hospital worker had been infected with the deadliest form of anthrax, adding to fears that the germ warfare agent was spreading more widely through the mail.

"The New York inhalational case is confirmed," said a spokeswoman for the Atlanta-based agency, which earlier on Tuesday had listed the unidentified 61-year-old woman as suffering from a suspected case of anthrax. Intensifying concern over anthrax, U.S. Postal Service officials said traces had been found at Friendship Station in northwest Washington and in nearby Dulles Station, Virginia, indicating the further spread of the bacteria in the capital, where several federal buildings have been contaminated.
In West Palm Beach, Florida, minuscule amounts of spores were found on three of 25 mechanical sorting machines tested last week for anthrax at a large postal facility, Postal Service spokesman Joseph Breckenridge said.
Bureau Report