A slip in quality testing appears to be the likely culprit for anthrax shipped to nine states and possibly two countries, experts believe.
The Defense Department acknowledged this week that a lab in Utah accidentally sent live anthrax to nine states, South Korea and possibly Australia. So far, no deaths have been reported and officials have said the public is not at risk.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating the incident, but hasn’t divulged many details. That may not suffice for Congress, as several lawmakers are already demanding answers on how this mistake happened. The spores had been shipped because they were being used to develop tests.
FedEx shipped the anthrax, but one expert believes the shipping was probably not the problem.
“What appears to have happened is that this anthrax was not successfully inactivated,” said Robert Emery, a professor at the University of Texas’ School of Public Health. “It is unclear what the protocol is that they used for inactivation.”
Anthrax is a tough nut to crack. The pathogen’s spores are resistant and therefore hard to kill.
Most labs use radiation to deactivate the bacteria, said Philip Hanna, microbiology associate professor at the University of Michigan. After it is deactivated, the lab must test the bacteria to ensure the live spores were eradicated.
For one test, a technician takes a portion of the sample and puts it in a petri dish. The next day, if colonies of bacteria grow in the dish, the technician knows the anthrax is still active, Hanna said.
The test takes an extra day, but is vital to ensure the pathogen is not live, Hanna said.
After the samples are found to be inert, they are shipped out. The CDC does not track inert samples but does track live ones.
Pathogens such as anthrax are shipped usually every day to medical centers, federal agencies and labs that develop new treatments and screening tools, Emery said.
The Obama administration did not divulge the method the Defense Department used to verify the samples.
An investigation into the shipments needs to “develop a little more so we can determine where we are,” said Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren.
A commercial lab that received the anthrax first alerted authorities to the live pathogen. The lab was working with the Pentagon to create a new diagnostic test for anthrax, the CDC said on Friday.
The CDC has experienced this problem before. Last year, staff at the agency’s Atlanta laboratories was exposed to anthrax that was thought to be deactivated.
In response, and feeling heat from Congress, CDC beefed up training, conducted a safety review and appointed new oversight staff.
However, the Obama administration has yet to install a key recommendation from a federal watchdog. No federal entity is responsible for planning and overseeing labs that work on highly infectious pathogens, the Government Accountability Office found in a 2014 report.
Now the CDC and the Pentagon are taking heat from lawmakers over the latest blunder.
“This incident represents a serious breach of trust in the United States Army’s obligation to keep our citizens and service members safe,” wrote Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., in a letter to Army Secretary John McHugh.
House lawmakers also want the CDC to brief them on how the mistake occurred.
