News / Military

US military accidently sent bio-weapon to Australia

Saturday, 30 May 2015 9:37 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 30 May 2015 9:49 PM ]

A security fence surrounds the main part of the US Army's Dugway Proving Ground, a testing laboratory in the Utah desert. (File photo)

The US military says it may have inadvertently shipped off live anthrax to research laboratories in Australia.

US Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work on Saturday ordered an inclusive review of laboratory procedures at Dugway Proving Ground (DPG) Army facility in Utah.

The US army facility has tested chemical weapons since 1942.

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said live anthrax spores had been sent to 18 laboratories in nine US states and one such sample was shipped off to a military base in South Korea.

The army later said it possibly sent live anthrax to a lab in Australia back in 2008.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said such incidents would not damage relationship between Washington and Canberra.

"We're assured by the US military there is no risk to public health," Bishop said on Saturday. "We're taking part in the investigation and I'm pleased it is under way."

On Wednesday, the Pentagon said it inadvertently sent live anthrax spores to as many as nine US states and one anthrax sample to the Joint US Forces Korea Portal and Integrated Threat Recognition Program at Osan Air Base, south of Seoul.

The labs were supposed to receive dead anthrax samples for research use.

The live anthrax spores were shipped from Utah to labs in Texas, Maryland, Wisconsin, Delaware, New Jersey, Tennessee, New York, California and Virginia.

GJH/GJH

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