Pfizer employees in Seoul hospitalized
for tests after powder is found in mail
By Jim Lea, Osan bureau chief
Sixteen employees of a U.S. pharmaceutical firm in Seoul were hospitalized Friday for
possible anthrax exposure.
Employees of Pfizer’s Seoul office were hospitalized after one employee opened a
letter mailed from the United States and white powder spilled from the envelope.
A hospital spokesman said the employees have been quarantined, and the National Health
Institute is analyizing the powder.
Test results should be available by noon Saturday, he said.
None of the people have exhibited symptoms of the disease, the hospital spokesman said.
The company could not be contacted for comment, but South Korean television news
reports said the letter containing the powder had a return address of a New York bank. It
was addressed to a company financial official and was delivered Friday to the
company’s mail room.
One employee made contact with the white powder, and the other 15 employees were in the
immediate vicinity, the reports said.
The incident occurred two days after Pfizer’s New York headquarters announced it
was increasing production of Vibramycin, an antibiotic used to combat the skin and inhaled
anthrax forms.
The South Korean Health and Welfare Ministry has analyzed white powder found in 85 of
95 reported cases since Oct. 15, an institute spokesman said.
No toxic substances have been found so far. The powder analyzed so far has been flour,
sugar or plaster, the spokesman said.
In 10 of those cases, the powder was contained in envelopes mailed from overseas.
Bae Gi-chul contributed to this report.
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