DOD Accidentally Sends Live Anthrax Around the States
Careful, Department of Defense, we’ve heard of people getting arrested for doing what you just did. A DOD lab in Utah thought it was shipping samples of dead anthrax pathogens to labs in nine states and South Korea. Turns out, the lab sent along live spores to at least one facility. “There is no known risk to the general public, and there are no suspected or confirmed cases of anthrax infection in potentially exposed lab workers,” Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren said. “The DOD lab was working as part of a DOD effort to develop a field-based test to identify biological threats in the environment. Out of an abundance of caution, DOD has stopped the shipment of this material from its labs pending completion of the investigation.” The threat was first reported at a Maryland lab May 22. The South Korean lab in the Osan Air Base is giving the 22 people who possibly came in contact with anthrax preventative treatment. Government incompetence can be stunning. Hopefully in this case, it’s not deadly. More…