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Mail Operations Suspended

October 30, 2001

October 30, Vilnius--The United States Embassy in Vilnius, like all U.S. diplomatic missions around the world, has suspended our mail operations with the Department of State.  Our diplomatic pouch service was suspended on October 24, following the confirmation that some State Department mail handling facilities had been contaminated with anthrax spores.  The State Department, in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is developing procedures for ensuring that all of our mail handling facilities in the United States and around the world are decontaminated.  Here in Vilnius, mailbags that are in the possession of the embassy are being checked for possible anthrax contamination by the Microbiology Laboratory at the Vilnius Public Health Center.  We do not suspect contamination, but feel that it is common sense to take this precaution.