The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating a discovery Tuesday evening of alleged “smallpox” vials in a Pennsylvania laboratory.
Federal officials opened the investigation after a worker from Merck, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the United States, discovered 15 vials, five of which had been labeled “smallpox” and 10 of which had been labeled “vaccinia,” according to Yahoo News. At the time of the discovery, the worker had been cleaning out a freezer at the facility, located just outside of Philadelphia.
“There is no indication that anyone has been exposed to the small number of frozen vials,” said a CDC spokesperson. “The frozen vials labeled ‘Smallpox’ were incidentally discovered by a laboratory worker while cleaning out a freezer in a facility that conducts vaccine research in Pennsylvania.”
“CDC, its Administration partners, and law enforcement are investigating the matter, and the vials’ contents appear intact,” the spokesperson continued. “The laboratory worker who discovered the vials was wearing gloves and a face mask.”
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After the discovery, the laboratory was placed on lockdown, which has since been lifted, according to the outlet.
Vials of the suspected smallpox will be taken into custody by the CDC Wednesday and moved to another facility for testing, the report added.
Of all the facilities in the world, only two are “WHO-designated” to carry samples of the variola virus for research purposes. One of the locations is a CDC lab in Atlanta, Georgia, and the other is the Russian State Centre for Research on Virology and Biotechnology in Koltsovo, Russia.
Smallpox is described as a contagious “serious infectious disease” caused by the variola virus, according to the CDC’s website. Symptoms of smallpox include a fever and a skin rash.
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The last outbreak of smallpox within the U.S. was in 1949. The World Health Assembly declared in 1980 that the infectious disease had been eradicated, with no reported cases of smallpox since that time.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the CDC, FBI, and Merck for comment but did not receive responses back.
