Contrary to what has been earlier reported by Pentagon and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), live anthrax samples are found in more than 40 labs, 15 states, and 3 countries. A sample has also been accidentally delivered in Washington DC, the country's capital.
A few days ago, the government, through Pentagon and CDC, had confirmed that they had accidentally sent out what could be live samples of the deadly anthrax to different areas, including a private lab in Maryland and a U.S. base stationed in South Korea. They had also announced they would be conducting an inventory for their samples especially those sent out and review their delivery process.
Now, Pentagon is saying that there's more than what has been reported and that it's possible many names will be added into the list.
The problem began in a military base located in Utah. Dugway Proving Ground is one of the key places that store and study samples of anthrax virus so they could develop countermeasures against it.
In recent history, anthrax is one of the viruses that have been used in wars, mainly for bio terrorism. In 2001, 5 people died as letters laden with live anthrax spores reached different media companies such as CBS, ABC, and American Media. Two were also sent to senators Patrick Leahy and Tom Daschle. Eventually, a man named Dr. Bruce Ivins, who worked on the virus in Fort Detrick, was considered a suspect. He later died of a drug overdose.
Those that are shipped for tests and medical research, however, are either deactivated or dead. This is the first time that live samples were delivered.
They are now trying to determine whether this is a quality control problem. In the meantime, they continue to assure the public the virus doesn't pose any threat and that there's no identified risk among the staff, although they are taking the necessary measures to avoid infection.