MANILA, Philippines—A small corner of the Manila Post Office where letters addressed to the United States Embassy are processed was cordoned off Thursday following a report a letter received at the US mission had contained a white powder, possibly anthrax.

But nothing was found after the Manila police, Philpost Inspection Service and Bureau of Fire Protection inspected the section and briefly quarantined 13 postal employees who worked there.

Everything turned out fine except for two postal tellers who had to take a disinfecting shower under the supervision of the MPD, according to Postmaster General Hector Villanueva.

“Nothing was found in the lock box designated for the US Embassy,” Villanueva told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone.

The post office sought the assistance of chemical experts after the US Embassy sent out an advisory Wednesday warning of possible anthrax contamination of its mail.

“It was an advisory sent all over the world. The Philippines is no exception to that,” he said.

The 13 Philpost employees, all females, were quarantined from noon to late afternoon Thursday while the inspection was going on.

A Philpost official, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said the inspection was made after a US Embassy employee had noted a powdery substance in a letter received at the mission.

“What we did was just a precautionary measure. So far we found no letter positive for anthrax,” the official told the Inquirer.

He said the inspection was done at Philpost’s initiative. “We did it just to be safe,” he said.

He said the lockbox section was cordoned off while BFP personnel, clad in protective gear, sprayed chemicals to decontaminate the area.

“The employees were isolated and asked to take disinfecting showers. They were allowed to leave after they shed their potentially contaminated garments and underwent a decontamination shower,” he said.