The suspicious package found at a medical manufacturing facility in North Canaan on Thursday has tested negative for several biohazards, according to First Selectman Brian Ohler.
In a Facebook post on Friday, Ohler said the Connecticut Department of Public Health confirmed the item tested negative for anthrax, plague, smallpox, Tularemia, and other hazards. A test for ricin was also negative.
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WATCH HEREThe facility was evacuated.
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SIGN UP More than 300 employees who were at work at the time went through a decontamination process including showers, and had to leave their clothing and phones behind to be tested.
Those employees were sent home in Tyvek suits with only their car keys, officials said.
Two employees who opened the package were taken to the hospital as a precaution and later released.
None of the employees who went through the decontamination process exhibited any symptoms or illnesses by Friday, Ohler said in his Facebook post.
DEEP notified the FBI about the package and it was sent to the state lab to be analyzed.
In addition to the FBI, DEEP was also working closely with local emergency responders, the Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, local health officials, and other state and federal authorities.
The package was deemed suspicious because the item inside was not something that would normally be sent to that facility, according to emergency officials.
“Package came in with an unusual mail address and instantly realized when it was opened it was not a package that was supposed to come to this facility," LeClerc said.
Becton Dickinson remained closed on Friday. It was not clear when the facility would reopen.
The investigation is ongoing.
