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Suspicious Letter Sickens Worker At Palo Alto VA Hospital

PALO ALTO (AP) - The FBI and U.S. Postal Service inspectors were investigating a suspicious letter that may have sickened a clerk in the business office of the VA hospital in Palo Alto Tuesday.

VA spokeswoman Kerri Childress said the clerk felt something gritty when he opened the envelope Tuesday afternoon and went to the hospital emergency room as a precaution. There, he became nauseated and vomited.

KCBS' Mike Colgan Reports:

Other workers on the same floor were evacuated.

Childress said the business office in a separate building from the hospital so no patients were affected.

"The FBI has taken the letter, and it will go back to their labs so they can investigate it," said Childress. "We've been told, and we're keeping our fingers crossed that by noon Wednesday we'll have the results one way or another. Until then, we're keeping the hospital closed."

She said the letter was addressed to "VA Palo Alto Hospital System."

(© 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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