Sen. Dianne Feinstein's mailroom tests positive for trace amounts of anthrax

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Trace amounts of anthrax were found in the office of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., along with two other senators' offices, a spokesman for the senator confirmed Saturday.

The anthrax traces were discovered in Feinstein's mailroom along with trace amounts in the offices of Sens. Larry Craig, R-Idaho and Bob Graham, D-Fla., said Feinstein spokesman Jim Hock.

Feinstein asked a senate attending physician to come to her Washington, D.C. home Saturday to answer staff members' questions.

When anthrax was discovered in the Hart Senate office building three weeks ago after Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle received an anthrax-laced letter Oct. 15, all of Feinstein's staff received nasal swabs and some began taking the antibiotic Cipro for three days as a precautionary measure, Hock said.

"There's a minimal chance anyone could contract anthrax at this point," Hock said.

Feinstein has not taken any antibiotics and all of the medical tests from her office staff have come back negative, Hock said.

"We were advised by the attending physician's office that the medical risk is virtually zero, and no additional tests or treatment are recommended," Feinstein said Saturday. "I met with my staff this afternoon and no members have reported any medical problems that can be associated with anthrax. We will, however, continue to monitor the situation very closely."

Anthrax was found in several spots in the Hart Senate office building, where the letter containing anthrax was opened. Those additional locations where isolated spores were found -- a freight elevator and a staircase -- were cleaned last week with an anti-bacterial foam.