FedEx facility evacuated after package explosion

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A package labeled as containing the West Nile virus exploded at a Federal Express facility, and about 50 workers were evacuated.

Fire officials said dry ice used to preserve tissue samples containing live virus may have caused the shoebox-sized package to burst late Tuesday at the FedEx office near Port Columbus International Airport.

The package contained brain and kidney tissue from a bird that had tested positive for the virus, said Jay Carey, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Health. The department was sending the material to a researcher at the University of Texas.

The virus was live but the samples were frozen and unlikely to become airborne, Carey said.

"The risk to employees or first-responders is still very low," he said. "Only people with open wounds who would come in direct contact with the sample material would be at any risk of infection."

Workers were allowed back into the building after about four hours.

"I think everyone's anxiety level is kind of high," said police Sgt. Brent Mull.