Brokaw's Asst Tests Positive for Anthrax

October 12 -- Media outlets are on alert after an NBC News employee in New York City tested positive for anthrax, the network and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said today.

NBC officials, speaking off the record, told The Associated Press that the woman in question is news anchor Tom Brokaw's assistant, and that she had handled a suspicious piece of mail addressed to Brokaw.Giuliani also confirmed that several floors of the New York Times offices in Manhattan were evacuated today after suspicious mail was received, according to ABCNEWS.com.

"The New York Times received a letter with a powdery substance," Giuliani said.

Police and health officials did not yet know if the substance tested positive for anthrax, but were on the scene and investigating, Giuliani said.

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The NBC employee, whose name was withheld, was infected through her skin, in a form of the disease known as cutaneous anthrax, Giuliani said at a news conference with NBC network head Andrew Lack and FBI officials. The woman works on the third floor of the company's Manhattan headquarters, where the Today show and NBC Nightly News are produced. She was responding well to treatment, Lack said. "She is in good health and in good care," Lack said. The woman opened a piece of suspicious mail on Sept. 25, but the powder inside tested negative for anthrax, Giuliani said. Health officials began monitoring the woman, but she did not test positive until this morning, the mayor said. She had been treated with the antibiotic Cipro as a precaution shortly after her apparent exposure.

Rosie O'Donnell Suspends ProductionSeveral floors of the NBC headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Center will be closed for several days, Giuliani said, as health officials test the building. All employees working in the area are being tested for the disease, but there have been no other positive results. Following the news, Rosie O'Donnell canceled production of her talk show through next week, and suspended production until further notice, according to Entertainment Tonight, and Saturday Night Live guest host Drew Barrymore immediately left rehearsal at the SNL studios, which are located across the hall from Rosie.