Results of anthrax tests at St. Paul facility expected this week

ST. PAUL (AP) -- Test results were expected in four to seven days after a dead-letter office was tested for anthrax early Friday.

The St. Paul Mail Recovery Center handles mail from about 20 states, including envelopes and packages from New York and New Jersey, where anthrax has been found. The building is one of three centers in the country being tested because undeliverable mail is sent there to be sorted.

The other dead-letter centers are in Atlanta and San Francisco.

"This is strictly a precautionary measure," Jim Ahlgren, spokesman for the Northland District of the U.S. Postal Service, said of the tests in St. Paul. "We have no reason to believe there's anthrax present at the facility. It's just the prudent thing to do at this point."

About 80 employees work at the plant.