Pentagon mishandled live plague, deadly viruses
Pentagon laboratories may have mishandled, improperly stored and shipped samples of potentially live plague samples, putting the public at risk.
The Defense Department is investigating the possible mishandling of bubonic plague samples at its labs, Pentagon Spokesman Peter Cook said on Thursday.
Concerns were raised after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discovered a sample of plague bacteria in a facility freezer “outside the containment area” at the Edgewood Chemical and Biological Center in Maryland on August 17, Cook said.
"One of the things they're doing right now is trying to assess whether any of these substances, first of all, pose any sort of threat; second of all, whether these substances were shipped to any other laboratories," he said.
US officials contend that testing has indicated that the suspect samples contain a weakened version and not the fully infectious form that alarmed lab regulators at the CDC.
Army Spokesman Dov Schwartz said the plague samples found in the labs pose no danger to the public.
The plague bacteria can cause several types of serious and potentially fatal illnesses, including swollen lymph nodes, lung infection, and sever skin disorder. The pathogen is often blamed for the “Black Death” that claimed millions of lives in Europe during the 14th century.
The CDC has also raised concerns about mishandling of two potentially deadly viruses at military labs-- Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus and Eastern equine encephalitis virus.
The latest revelations come after a scandal broke in May that the Pentagon mistakenly shipped live anthrax samples to all 50 states and nine foreign countries without killing the spores.
The live samples of the deadly bacteria were sent from a military lab in Utah.
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