Anthrax scares spread worldwide

The United States consulate in Melbourne, Australia, was evacuated today after a suspicious chemical was found in a letter.

US Consulate General David Lyon said staff were evacuated as a precaution after an envelope found to have a mysterious residue arrived at the offices.

‘‘We have a number of security scanning devices for all incoming mail and the letter failed one of those,’’ Lyon told Melbourne radio.

‘‘We simply took the position of better safe than sorry and evacuated the building until the police could respond.’’

Lyon said the consul did not consider the letter a serious threat, but police had confiscated it to analyse the chemical.

A police spokesman said no further details were immediately available.

Meanwhile, authorities evacuated a terminal at Vienna’s international airport after a suspicious-looking white powder was found at a news stand.

Dagmar Lang, a spokeswoman for Schwechat International Airport, said the terminal was cleared purely as a precaution last night after between 200 and 300 grams of powder was discovered at a newspaper kiosk in the busy airport.

Authorities were investigating, but there was no immediate indication that it might have been anthrax, Austria Press Agency reported.

The terminal was later reopened and there were no serious flight disruptions, Lang said.