GMW: GM MICE WITH BUBONIC PLAGUE GO MISSING

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GMW: GM MICE WITH BUBONIC PLAGUE GO MISSING

" GM WATCH " <info

Fri, 16 Sep 2005 09:27:01 +0100

 

 

 

 

GM WATCH daily

http://www.gmwatch.org

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absolutely nothing to worry about of course but the FBI decided to

discuss the case " since there was a perceived risk to the public " ...

 

so much for containment!

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New Jersey lab loses mice infected with bubonic plague

BY MITCH LIPKA AND FAWN VRAZO

Knight Ridder Newspapers

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/12657231.htm

 

PHILADELPHIA - (KRT) - Three mice infected with bubonic plague have

been reported missing from a New Jersey bioterrorism research lab, but

authorities say they most likely were eaten by their fellow test subjects

- a possibility apparently overlooked by employees.

 

Their disappearance triggered a federal investigation. Although what

happened to the mice is not definitely known, officials said yesterday

there was no reason for the public to worry about a spread of the disease

that killed millions of people during the Middle Ages.

 

The genetically engineered mice were among 24 being used in a trial of

an experimental plague vaccine at the Public Health Research Institute

on the campus of the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey

in Newark.

 

When a lab scientist working on the experiment learned about two weeks

ago that three mice could not be accounted for, the institute followed

protocol and contacted federal authorities.

 

The investigation by the FBI so far has found no evidence of terrorism

or even a crime at the lab, said Special Agent Steve Siegel of the

FBI's Newark office. Lie-detector tests were given to several lab

employees, he said.

 

" The FBI has expended a tremendous amount of manpower and resources on

this matter, " Siegel said.

 

The lab incident was first reported by the Star Ledger in Newark

yesterday. It is unusual for the FBI to comment on an ongoing

investigation,

but Siegel said the agency decided to discuss the case " since there was

a perceived risk to the public. "

 

There were three sets of eight mice being used for the experiment - one

set injected with a proven vaccine, one with the trial vaccine, and one

receiving no vaccine. About three weeks ago, all were injected with the

plague. The mice then typically die within three days, according to lab

officials.

 

A scientist working on the trial could not get a satisfactory answer

from the animal handlers who monitor and care for the animals as to why

only 21 mice remained at the end the testing. Following lab protocol,

the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was called, and

then the FBI, said David Perlin, president and scientific director of the

institute.

 

Perlin said in a telephone interview that he is confident there is no

way any of the mice could have escaped the lab and the building, or have

been removed by a staff member. The best theory, Perlin said, is the

mice were eaten by their cagemates and the lab staff didn't see the

remains in the sawdust the animals live in when the cages were cleaned

and

sterilized.

 

" We believe it was inadvertent and the animal-care staff made a

mistake, " Perlin said. " That doesn't excuse it. "

 

Perlin said workers would be retrained in proper handling of lab

animals in such sensitive experiments.

 

The facility deals with about 10,000 animals a year, he said, and all

need to be accounted for. Law enforcement would not have been notified,

Perlin said, except that the plague is on a list of agents that could

possibly be used by terrorists. Tuberculosis-infected mice, for

instance, would not have rated the FBI investigation.

 

Security at the facility is tight. Of more than 100 employees, only

eight have access to the lab working with the plague, Perlin said.

 

The employees must go through five separate electronic and manual

security checkpoints before entering that lab while cameras capture their

moves, he said. All those who worked on the experiment had clearance from

the Department of Justice and were interviewed by the FBI after the

mice couldn't be found, Perlin said.

 

Experts said there would be virtually no threat to the public even if

the mice had somehow escaped.

 

The infected mice would have to be bitten by fleas, which would then

have to bite humans to spread the disease. " And the odds of that

occurring are ridiculous. It's hard to even imagine such a scenario, "

said

Laurie Garrett, head of the global health program for the Council on

Foreign Relations in New York, a think tank studying bioterrorism and

other

issues.

 

" There is no indication that this is a public health threat, " said

Jennifer Morcone, a CDC spokeswoman.

 

According to the CDC and other federal agencies, plague - including the

bubonic, septicemic and pneumonic forms - is contracted by 10 to 20

people in the United States each year. Most become infected after being

bitten by fleas or rodents in the southwestern United States, where

bubonic plague frequently infects prairie dogs.

 

Bubonic plague rarely spreads from human to human. But when it enters

the lungs and becomes the pneumonic form, it can be spread to others

when the infected person sneezes or coughs.

 

Because of fears that terrorists could use plague as a bioweapon, the

federal National Institutes of Health - which paid for the testing

involving these mice - has increased funding substantially for

research into

plague and vaccines for treating it.

 

But as yet, said Garrett, no one appears to have found a way to make a

deadly plague aerosol spray that could be used in terrorist attacks.

 

The potential vaccine was a failure, Perlin added.

 

All the mice injected with the experimental vaccine quickly died.

 

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© 2005, The Philadelphia Inquirer.

 

 

 

 

 

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