May 27, 2015
Washington, DC (AFP)
The US military accidentally shipped at least one live
anthrax sample across the country to a commercial lab in Maryland and four
workers were undergoing medical treatment as a precaution, officials said. Bacillus anthracis is a large, blunt- to
square-ended bacterial rod that forms short chains.
The samples had been irradiated in March last year at a
military lab in Utah and were supposed to be "dead."
But on Friday, a private firm in Maryland notified
authorities that its sample was still active, setting off an urgent review of
all material sent out to other labs, defense officials said.
More than a dozen other government and commercial labs in
nine states -- as well as a US military base in South Korea -- received samples
over the past year from the original batch that was irradiated in 2014 at
Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, near Salt Lake City, officials said.
Four people at three different companies that had
"worked with the live anthrax" were receiving post-exposure
prophylaxis treatment as a precaution, officials said.
But the Pentagon and health officials said there was no
threat to public health.
"There is no known risk to the general public, and
there are no suspected or confirmed cases of anthrax infection in potentially
exposed lab workers," Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steven Warren said in a
statement.
However, precise information about what had gone wrong and
how many labs might be affected remained unclear.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), backed
up by the Defense Department, was investigating the mishap.
The live anthrax sample, which had been transported by
truck, was discovered by the commercial lab late on Friday and the other
laboratories were then informed, officials said.
One sample of anthrax was sent to a lab at Osan Air Base in
South Korea, Warren said.
"The sample was destroyed in accordance with
appropriate protocols," he said.
Referring to the commercial lab in Maryland, the CDC said
"although an inactivated agent was expected, the lab reported they were
able to grow live Bacillus anthracis."
- Past safety lapses -
The CDC said in a statement the investigation is examining
if other labs "also received other live samples, epidemiologic
consultation, worker safety review, laboratory analysis and handling of
laboratory waste."
The Pentagon's announcement came less than a year since
health officials faced severe criticism over a spate of safety lapses at CDC
labs handling deadly pathogens, including anthrax.
The Defense Department lab at Dugway Proving Grounds
routinely transfers "dead" anthrax samples, which are inactivated
through radiation, for scientific research.
The lab was working on a project "to develop a
field-based test to identify biological threats in the environment,"
Warren said.
As a precaution, the Defense Department "has stopped
the shipment of this material from its labs pending completion of the
investigation," he said.
After the military lab in Utah irradiated a batch of Anthrax
on March 18, the material was divided into nine samples that were then sent out
to labs over the course of several months.
One sample was shipped to an army facility in Maryland, the
Edgewood Chemical Biological Center. That material was then shipped to
different private labs, including the firm in Maryland that reported finding
the live sample, officials told AFP.
The other labs in the United states receiving samples from
the original batch were located in California, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey,
New York, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin and Virginia.
The lethal anthrax disease is spread by spores and has been
used for bioweapons programs in the United States and elsewhere. Washington
long ago scrapped its bioweapons effort as part of an international treaty,
which the United States ratified in 1975.
US government laboratories came under fire last year over
reports of sloppy management of deadly bacteria.
As a result, health officials suspended the shipment of potentially
dangerous pathogens from government labs in Atlanta and the CDC shut down two
of its laboratories, including one implicated in the mishandling of anthrax
samples.
Investigators from the Agriculture Department last year
found anthrax was stored in unlocked refrigerators in an unrestricted corridor,
and that dangerous materials were transferred using resealable plastic bags.
Next thing, they will unleash hell upon us by “accident”. Somebody must check these government employees. We certainly do not have complete faith in
them.