Letter laced with 'the PLAGUE' is sent to French minister

A missive intended for a apical French curate contained traces of nan plague, according to reports.

The suspicious missive was addressed to nan municipality hallway of Roubaix, successful nan northbound of France extracurricular Lille, for nan attraction of nan Minister of nan Interior Gérald Darmanin.

It was unstamped and had undisclosed 'inscriptions' connected its back, rousing suspicions among workers at a sorting centre successful Longiv, successful nan Côte-d'Or region.

When they opened it they discovered that it was filled pinch a achromatic powder and a missive containing racist insults, French media reports. 

Preliminary tests revealed nan powder contained a 'slight positivity for nan plague' - nan illness that killed millions of group successful Europe during nan Middle Ages.

The constituent has been sent to nan Pasteur Institute, which is conducting caller analyses to corroborate nan results. 

The Côte-d'Or prefecture stressed that nan consequence 'could beryllium a mendacious positive.' 

The Pasteur Institute is expected to study its conclusions astatine nan extremity of nan time connected Monday.

It remains unclear who is down nan violative missive and prosecutors person launched an investigation.

The investigation has been opened for 'defamation and insults', but that whitethorn alteration depending connected trial results.

Plague is caused by nan bacterium Yersinia pestis, and is astir commonly transmitted to humans by flea bites aliases handling infected animals.

There are astir 1,000–3,000 cases per twelvemonth astir nan world, pinch nan astir endemic countries being nan Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, and Peru, according to nan World Health Organization (WHO).

Police are yet to sanction a fishy aliases imaginable motive and Darmanin has not spoken publically astir nan reports. 

The Interior Minister said connected France 2 TV this greeting astir caller attacks connected obstruction infrastructure conscionable hours earlier nan Olympics opening ceremonial connected Friday.

Darmanin said was 'leaning towards nan likelihood' that far-left extremists were down nan arson attacks.

'We person identified nan profiles of respective people,' said Darmanin, earlier adding: 'This is nan accepted type of action of nan ultra left.'

But erstwhile asked whether nan group that had been identified were adjacent to nan acold left, Darmanin said: 'We must beryllium cautious.'

He said 'the mobility is to cognize whether they were manipulated' aliases acted 'for their ain benefit'.

'These are group who whitethorn beryllium adjacent to this movement,' nan interior curate added.