ISLAMABAD, Nov 3: The Pakistan Post Office (PPO) has provided gloves and masks to protect its staff, responsible for sorting and distribution of letters, from anthrax spores.

The decision has been taken amidst scare, created by the deliverg of anthrax suspected mail at several places in the country.

“The measures has been taken in the light of guidelines, issued by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) — an association of 182 countries, including Pakistan as a member,” said PPO Director General Agha Masood Hassan while talking to Dawn.

He said PPO had already issued gloves and masks to the Karachi staff, involved in the sorting of international mail. However, similar items were in the process of being issued to the offices at Lahore, Islamabad and other cities for handling inland mail as well, he added.

All the post master generals have also been provided with detailed guidelines about anthrax, issued by the UPU. They have been ask to immediately report any case of suspected mail to the National Institute of Health (NIH).

Recently, PPO had established a new track and trace system for international mail at Karachi to ensure accuracy and prompt delivery of the mails. This is the place where majority of the international mails land to be sorted out for inland delivery.

In addition, the post office dispensaries, located in different cities, have been stocked with antibiotics like ciproflaxacin, tetracycline or a drug from penicillin group. Prompt antibiotics therapy usually results in dramatic recovery of any individual infected with anthrax.

“Though the staff have been provided with and gloves and masks, the post offices have no such provisions or methods to detect if the letter contained materials, contaminated with anthrax dust, except that if some staff member develops suspicion by feeling the powder inside”, conceded a senior member of the post office on condition of anonymity.

“It is very difficult to trace the area, from where a suspected letter, containing anthrax spores has been posted. All we could do is to tell from which city such a letter was posted. But then our cities are as big as a country,” remarked the director general.

Agha Hassan said that recently one of his postmaster in Gujrat received an envelope filled with talcum powder.

However, he assured that in case some suspected letter was detected, it would be sent to the handwriting experts for indepth analysis.