CDC Investigates Anthrax Shipment From US Military
The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating what the Department of Defense says was an accidental shipment of live anthrax. The suspected samples were shipped from an Army facility in Utah to laboratories in nine states.
Georgia did not receive any of the live spores, but the CDC has confirmed at least one lab in Maryland received live anthrax. CDC spokesman Jason McDonald says 17 others are under investigation.
“All of the labs have been contacted, and all of the labs are sending the samples to CDC in Atlanta for testing and culturing,” McDonald says.
McDonald says the labs were part of a program to develop a new test to identify dangerous pathogens. He says CDC agents have traveled to the Army lab in Utah to further investigate.
“Was there a human component? Was it a process component? The team is trying to understand what may have happened when these samples were prepared,” says McDonald.
McDonald says so far no lab workers have gotten sick, but four have been asked to take antibiotics as a precautionary measure. The Department of Defense says there is “no known risk” to the public.
9(MDAxODM0MDY4MDEyMTY4NDA3MzI3YjkzMw004))
Top Stories
