Local mail handlers are taking extra measures to calm Iowans’ fears about the possibility of anthrax spreading through the U.S. Postal Service.

“Everyone is aware of what’s happening, and we’re taking precautions,” said Naveen Kekre, Maple-Willow-Larch hall desk supervisor. “We’re not that worried. Of course, we are careful.”

Kekre, graduate student in industrial and manufacturing systems, said all of the nine hall desks, where mail is sorted for students who live in university residence halls, have a procedure for handling suspicious mail.

Hall desk supervisors have posted a list of things to do and not to do for the workers, he said. Supervisors also talked to the workers about what to look for while handling the mail, Kekre said.

He said he’s not worried about anthrax getting into the campus mail or the university residence halls.

“We’ve gotten assurance from [the U.S. Postal Service] they’re taking proper care before the mail comes through the residence halls,” he said.

Courtney Schmitt, junior in psychology, works at the hall desk for Birch, Welch, Roberts, Barton, Lyon, Freeman and Fisher-Nickell halls. She said campus mail passes through several post offices before it reaches the hall desks, increasing the chances of detecting anthrax before it reaches the hall desk.

“Since the mail is handled so much before it gets to us, there’s an extremely slim possibility it will reach the hall desk,” she said. “If somebody did try it, it wouldn’t work very well.”

Jim Ziebold, manager of post and parcel for ISU Facilities Planning and Management, declined to comment on other preventative measures the university is taking.

Linda Jensen, U.S. Postal Service inspector in Des Moines, said only three pieces of mail were confirmed to have anthrax in the United States in the more than 30 billion pieces delivered since Sept. 11.

“No incidents of anthrax have been found in the state of Iowa,” she said. “We’re the people that respond to false reports and hoaxes – we would know.”

Jensen said anthrax spores commonly are found among animals in agricultural areas, including Iowa.

However, she said, “people need to keep in mind most anthrax cases are `medically insignificant,’ ” where there are not enough spores to cause an infection. Recent reports of anthrax in both Kansas City and Indiana were medically insignificant, Jensen said.

“If people apply common sense and not let panic overtake, fear will dissipate,” she said. “There’s reason for concern, but not for panic.”

The U.S. Postal Service does consider anthrax a legitimate threat, Jensen said, and “is doing many things to protect from anthrax.”

The Des Moines post office branch was one of more than 260 branches nationwide to have its facilities swabbed for anthrax, Jensen said. Of those facilities, 185 branches have tested negative, and the rest are still waiting for results. None of these facilities have tested positive for anthrax, she said.

The Postal Service is investing large sums of money to protect customers and employees, Jensen said.

Since Sept. 11, it has spent $2.4 million on electron-beam technology to sanitize the mail, she said. The Postal Service also is looking into sanitation technology to eradicate all bacteria, not only anthrax, from the mail, Jensen said.

Additionally, millions of dollars have been spent to provide gloves and masks for 800,000 postal employees nationwide.

Jensen said the Postal Service also provides regular “stand-up talks” to employees to keep them aware of new information.