French Embassy in Sri Lanka Shut Down Amid Anthrax FearThe French embassy in Sri Lanka was shut down on Friday, four days after a letter suspected to contain anthrax was found, embassy officials said.The embassy was shut down indefinitely until further notice pending the results of tests on a suspicious letter containing anthrax received by the embassy on Monday, an official said. A French diplomat who opened the envelope has been treated with antibiotics as a precautionary measure and the room where the letter was opened was sealed off following the discovery of the suspicious letter. Last week the Australian, British, Indian and the U.S. embassies here have also received similar suspicious mails containing a white powder. Director of Sri Lanka's Medical Research Institute G.S. S. K. Colombage said that there was a grave possibility that some of the samples they have received are hoaxes. Sri Lankan Health Ministry appointed a 12-member task force last week to draw up precautionary measures to combat any outbreak of anthrax. |
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