NEW YORK?The Secret Service is investigating two vials containing salmonella that were sent to former President Clinton’s office in Harlem. The agency said there is no connection to the anthrax scares.

“This has nothing to do with the other mailings” that have spread anthrax in Washington, New York, New Jersey and Florida, Secret Service spokesman Jim Mackin said. Salmonella is a common food poisoning bacteria that rarely is deadly.

Mackin said 15 vials containing an unknown substance were in a package received at Clinton’s office in early October. Clinton did not handle the package, and nobody has gotten sick from it.

The vials contained white and red liquid, according to a law- enforcement source who spoke on condition of anonymity. The package was postmarked in Japan and included a note written in Japanese on rice paper, the source said.

The package was addressed to Clinton at the White House, where it went through the standard X-ray process before it was forwarded to Clinton’s office, the source said.