The U.S. Postal Service plans next week to expand testing of a new system designed to detect the presence of biological agents, according to the Washington Post (see GSN, April 10).

The biohazard detection system (BDS) has been successfully tested over the past nine months in Baltimore, said Thomas Day, vice president of engineering for the Postal Service.  Beginning June 1, the system will be tested at 14 additional postal facilities throughout the country for 30 days, after which time postal officials will decide whether the system should be deployed at all postal sites, the Post reported.

“In approximately 30 days, we’ll have the results of various test sites and hopefully, this will lead to the validation of the new BDS system, Day said.

The BDS works by testing the air surrounding mail-handling equipment for anthrax particles using a rapid on-site DNA test, Day said.  If a positive match is detected, the network computer will provide immediate notification and an emergency response plan would then be activated (Michael Zimmerman, Washington Post, May 26).

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