The U.S. military is believed to have sent live anthrax samples to different labs.
The U.S. authorities have just confirmed on Thursday, May 28, that the military may have made the mistake of accidentally sending live samples of anthrax to more than 17 laboratories, including one air force base that is stationed in South Korea.
Although only one lab, a private firm in Maryland, has revealed that the sample it received was live, since the rest of those delivered came from the same batch, the authorities assumed that everything was also live.
The samples have been delivered gradually for a period of one year between March 2014 and March 2015. The Pentagon, who revealed the news along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, mentioned that they thought the sample had already been irradiated a year ago and thus the virus should have been dead before they were shipped out. The samples are supposed to be used for research.
Because of this, the sample was sent through various recipients across states and overseas via FedEx and with less cautionary standards or protocols.
The possibility that it's live has thus prompted the government to immediately review the other samples including those remaining in their inventory and recall those that have been shipped. According to them, some have already arrived at the CDC through a very careful process to ensure that the virus doesn't leak to the public. Despite the claim from the Maryland lab, the government still wants to check if it is indeed live, and that may take around a week.
In the meantime, as a way of protecting those that may have come in contact with the sample, at least 4 employees in laboratories found in Wisconsin, Delaware, and Texas are provided with antibiotics while more than 20 people, including those in the military in South Korea, are under preventive treatment. They also want to assure that the issue should not be a cause of alarm for the public.
