The Associated Press
The White House is warning that anthrax field tests -- widely used since last fall’s attacks -- give fast but often incorrect results, prompting authorities to shut down buildings prematurely and hand out unneeded antibiotics.
In a memo being sent Monday to more than 250 federal agencies and to firefighters, police and local officials across the country, authorities say none of the commercially available field tests is reliable.
“This equipment does not pass acceptable standards for effectiveness,” said the memo from John H. Marburger III, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
The memo advises authorities to send results to a lab, where they can get initial readings within six hours.