Live anthrax spores were sent to nine US states

The US military recognized on Wednesday that it accidentally sent samples of living anthrax disputes to nine US states, as well as to the US Air Force base in South Korea.

What states in question is not specified.

It is known that the disputes of this dangerous disease, in particular, were, in recent days, sent to a commercial laboratory in the US state of Maryland. They were expelled from the military laboratory at the Daguey range in Utah, where drills on protection against chemical and biological weapons are being conducted.

In addition, samples were delivered to the largest American Air Force base in South Korea, Osan. In accordance with the rules, they were destroyed immediately after it became known that we were talking about live disputes. “None of the personnel showed signs of possible infection,” said US Department of Defense spokesman Colonel Steve Warren in this regard.

The Pentagon and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention assured that this incident did not pose any threat. However, according to media reports, four people are currently taking preventative medications, including antibiotics and an anthrax vaccine, as a precaution. All of them are civilians. It is not specified in which states they are located.

All military, government and commercial laboratories in the United States, which could also deliver live anthrax spores, are being tested. Information about the fact that as a result of what happened someone got infected, has not yet been reported. In accordance with the instructions, anthrax spores must be transported in a mortified way.

Last year, there were several high-profile scandals in the United States involving improper storage or transportation of hazardous biomaterials. Thus, in July 2014, American scientists discovered in a warehouse in the building of a medical facility in the city of Bethesda (Maryland), more than 300 unaccounted for test tubes in which pathogens of various diseases were stored without proper control, including dengue fever, influenza and spotted fever. Rocky Mountain fever."

Earlier, in the same month, it was reported that six unaccounted test tubes with samples of the smallpox virus that was dangerous to humans, which had been stored since 1950, were found in the same institution.

In particular, in June, 2014 revealed that more than 80 staff at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention could become infected with anthrax due to non-compliance with the established rules in a laboratory located in Atlanta, Georgia.

In addition, it turned out that this summer, scientists of the center sent scientific materials to colleagues from the US Department of Agriculture, which contained, in particular, samples of avian influenza virus. At the same time, the safety rules were not followed, which could lead to a massive infection of the ministry employees.