U.S. lab workers were in for a rather nasty surprise when the
inactive spores they were expecting to receive ended up being samples of
live anthrax. This colossal mistake may have affected nine labs across
the U.S. and one military base in South Korea. Twenty-two people at the
Osan Air Base in South Korea are receiving precautionary treatment, the
defense department says. An investigation is currently underway.
“All personnel were provided appropriate medical precautionary
measures to include examinations, antibiotics and in some instances,
vaccinations. None of the personnel have shown any signs of possible
exposure,” a spokesperson for the Osan Air Base said in a statement.
The samples were quickly destroyed and the defense department has
temporarily stopped shipment of anthrax until the investigation is
completed. But how did this happen? "The best I can tell there was not
human error," said General Raymond Odierno, Army chief of staff, in a
press conference, according to Reuters.
This incidence comes a year after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) was reported to have sent live—instead of inactive—anthrax to
labs. Though no one contracted the disease, the CDC also shut down their
shipment of the infectious disease temporarily. Live anthrax is shipped
frequently to labs, but there are specific protocols in place, which
includes protective gear, so researchers are able to handle the samples
safely.
“This is gross negligence. There is absolutely no excuse. Not for the
shipping institution. Not for receiving institutions that failed to
confirm inactivation upon receipt,” Richard Ebright, a molecular
biologist and biosecurity specialist at Rutgers University, told Nature News.
Anthrax is a rare disease caused by a bacterium known as Bacillus anthracis. The CDC reports that anthrax is the biological agent most likely to be used in a terrorist attack. Amesh
Adalja, an infectious disease physician at the University of Pittsburgh
Medical Center, told Nature News that military labs do research on
these pathogens as “a line of defense against bioterrorism.” He warns,
however, that mishandling incidences like these could seriously impact
public trust on this type of research.