TESTS in the United States on the white powdery substance found in a suspicious envelope here last week have confirmed that it did not contain the deadly anthrax bacteria.

The substance was sent to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia Thursday for the tests.

Health Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy told the Chronicle yesterday the results were "negative for anthrax".

He said the results, which he received yesterday, revealed that the suspicious substance was only "powder".

The specimen was sent to the U.S. through the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC) in Trinidad.

The suspicious envelope was posted locally to Mr. Youman Singh, Regional Education Officer, Region Three (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara) and was opened by his Secretary, Ms. Vonda Accra.

Some of the power spilled on her clothes triggering alarm.

The building was evacuated and a special team, including firemen with protective gear, deployed to retrieve and seal the envelope and substance for tests.

The Government Information Agency (GINA) yesterday said tests for anthrax will soon be done here.

Ramsammy told the agency two representatives from Con Test Inc., a Canadian company which specialises in hazardous testing, are due to today begin installing a `Hazard Cabinet' at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.

The installation is expected to take two days and the minister said this means testing for anthrax will be done locally.

After the discovery of the suspicious powdery substance last week, Ramsammy said this was the 11th specimen Guyana had sent for testing recently, all of which proved negative for the anthrax bacteria. He said most of these were from mail posted locally and deplored the "false alarms" and "hoax".

He appealed to "mischief makers" not to play such pranks because "it is not a funny thing (since) it takes a lot of our time and resources".

He explained that while it did not cost much to pay for the testing, the cases tap into the resources in terms of personnel going to the scene to retrieve suspicious specimens and responding to "hoax alarms", among other factors.