World goes on anthrax alert as hoaxes, jitters spread

TOKYO -- Fear of suspicious powder sent firefighters racing to two embassies in Malaysia, halted mail service in Finland and forced evacuation of a high school and a government building in Japan on Monday.

Global jitters worsened after tests discovered traces of anthrax in white powder leaking from a letter at a Bahamas post office and two postal workers at a site that handles mail for the U.S. Capitol died, likely from anthrax.

The Bahamas incident was the third case of anthrax in letters outside the United States. The two others were in Kenya and Argentina.

Hundreds of suspicious packets have been reported worldwide, and officials have to check each case.

"Our country absolutely can't take this threat too lightly," Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian said Monday, deciding to step up emergency drills and stockpile vaccines. "We must be prepared for every possible threat."

In Finland and Denmark, the countries' main mail sorting centers closed when white powder was found leaking from letters. The Copenhagen shutdown delayed delivery of 75,000 letters, while the Finnish workers were rushed to disinfecting showers.

In Japan, 900 students were sent home after a powder-filled envelope was mailed to their high school, and police in the northern city of Sapporo were investigating white powder at a government office.