NEW YORK, Oct 13: Americans woke up on Saturday to fears of a bio-terrorist campaign as a second person contracted anthrax, triggering panic-buying of antibiotics and a spate of false alarms.

The US government officials reiterated on Staurday that they have received additional credible threats against American targets within the United States and outside.

The anthrax threat was further underscored by a letter received by a Microsoft’s office in Reno ( Nevada) which at first tested positive for Anthrax, then a second one tested negative. Similar letters were reportedly found in the offices of the Los Angeles Times, and the offices of Columbus (Ohio) newspaper, Columbus Dispatch. But they tested negative for Anthrax.

Vice President Dick Cheney did not discount links between anthrax incidents and Osama Bin Laden’s network.

Cheney noted in an interview on PBS’ “News Hour” that the United States had ample evidence that Bin Laden’s followers were trained in spreading biological and chemical weapons.

“So, you start to piece it all together,” Cheney said. “Again, we have not completed the investigation, and maybe it’s a coincidence, but I must say I’m a skeptic. I think the only responsible thing for us to do is proceed on the basis that it could be linked.”

The threats received by the US officials are only in general terms and not specific. But the warnings by the top US officials from the President downwards has resulted in scaring the people despite appeals of calm.

The US officials say that the new assessment, pointing to a possible attack by Sunday, is based on new information received from American and overseas law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and a more refined look at the intelligence that prompted Thursday’s alert. The latest assessment, officials said, amplified Thursday’s warning but did not represent a separate threat.

At the same time, the officials also said they had found no evidence of any link between the continuing terror threats and the recent cases of anthrax exposure in New York and Florida — or between the anthrax cases in New York and Florida and now Nevada.

Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn confirmed that a letter containing pornographic material that was sent from Malaysia to a Microsoft office in Reno has tentatively tested positive for anthrax, though officials later said the second test found no anthrax bacteria.

No one has tested positive for the disease or become ill in Nevada, state officials said.

Additional tests were being conducted at a state Health Division laboratory, and health teams were contacting Microsoft employees to determine who might have handled the letter.

The latest report of anthrax exposure frayed already jittery nerves, a day after the FBI sent out a general warning to citizens at home and abroad that there could be further attacks in retaliation for the US bombing of Afghanistan.

In Ohio, the six-story building of The Columbus Dispatch newspaper was closed for 2 1/2 hours yesterday after an employee opened a Halloween card and found a powdery substance inside.

The assistant features editor who opened the card, and three other employees were kept separate from the rest of the staff until they were washed, said Columbus fire Capt. Steve Salesman.

In California, police cordoned off the Los Angeles Times’ downtown building after employees found a “powder-like substance” in the third-floor newsroom. The substance was later tested and found to be harmless.

Gov. Gray Davis ordered state agencies to stop opening mail until workers can be trained to detect suspicious packages that might contain anthrax.

In Washington, President Bush and other officials strove to hit the right note of reassurance tempered by caution.

“Our nation is still in danger, but the government is doing everything in our power to protect our citizenry,” Bush said at a White House event honoring Hispanics.

Referring to the “evil ones” who attacked New York and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, Bush vowed, “They will not take this country down. ... We will not be cowed.”

White House aides said the government was struggling with the delicate task of finding a balance between making sure Americans don’t let their guard down and being panicked by a continuing terror threat that is all too real.

“You don’t want people freaking out,” one Bush official said. “But you don’t want everything like it was before, because it can never be again.”

The President said his fellow citizens need to send a message to terrorists that they’ve failed in their goal to disrupt the American way of life.

However, the cumulative impact of the incidents has had a negative impact on the American population. There have been run on gas masks and Anthrax antibiotic medicine, Cipro, and some are hoarding food stuff to shelter themselves against a bio-terroism war which in the minds of some is becoming real.