Press Office
Food and Drug Administration
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

The Food and Drug Administration today issued the following:

In response to yesterday's announcement that FDA has closed its mail rooms in the Washington, D.C., area, FDA today released the following statement:

"In the wake of yesterday's announcement that all Food and Drug Administration mailrooms in suburban Maryland have been closed because of 'presumptive positive' findings of anthrax, people and organizations have expressed concerns about mail they receive from FDA offices from the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

"All FDA facilities remain open, and FDA employees are on the job. Public health experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and elsewhere have concluded that the risk of exposure to anthrax from handling FDA mail is very low. Recipients of mail from FDA locations in the Washington, D.C., area should treat that mail no differently from the way they treat U.S. mail they receive from anywhere else.

"Even though FDA's mail rooms in the Washington, D.C. area are currently closed, private overnight mail services continue their deliveries to FDA. As always, the agency's offices and employees may also be reached by fax and electronic mail.

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