Second anthrax case outside US confirmed

Argentina has announced the second case outside the US of mail contaminated with anthrax.

Argentina's health minister announced the case at a televised news conference.

Hector Lombardo said a travel brochure mailed from Florida to Argentina tested positive for anthrax spores but said nobody was exposed.

The first such case was confirmed earlier this week in Kenya, where a doctor received an anthrax-tainted letter from Atlanta.

The doctor and his family are in good health but are being treated with antibiotics.

Most of the hundreds of reports worldwide of tainted letters and suspicious powders have been quickly dismissed as false alarms.

Pranksters have been detained in Australia, Holland and Spain.

In Melbourne, more than 100 passengers on a Virgin Blue flight were quarantined for over two hours after a powdery substance was discovered on an aircraft.

An airline spokeswoman said the substance was removed and was found to be harmless.

Substantial backups at mail sorting centres were reported in New Zealand after white powder spilled from a postal bag in Dunedin.