Carter demands accountability in anthrax blunder
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon will determine who was responsible for shipments of live, deadly anthrax samples to laboratories in the United States and abroad and hold them accountable, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Sunday.
Meantime, the samples sent were contained in multiple layers of packaging with minimal markings and shipped by commercial carriers, including Federal Express, USA TODAY has learned.
"This is obviously a very unfortunate incident," Carter told reporters traveling with him in Vietnam.
Carter is keeping in "close touch" on the investigation into the inadvertent shipments. Last week, the Pentagon acknowledged that shipments of live samples of anthrax had been sent to labs in 11 states as well as facilities in Australia and South Korea. An investigation, overseen by Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work, was launched on Thursday.
The samples came from the Army's West Desert Test Center Dugway Proving Ground in Dugway, Utah. Scientists at the lab there run experiments on anthrax to help improve its detection and treatment for those exposed to anthrax. Scientists at Dugway intended to ship only dead, inactive samples to colleagues at other labs, but some of the material was later discovered to be live and active.
Breathing live anthrax spores can cause flu-like symptoms, including a high fever, and is often deadly even with treatment. The Pentagon is treating 22 military and civilian personnel in Korea as a precaution.
The samples shipped from Dugway were placed in shatter- and leak-resistant vials, according to senior Defense Department officials briefed on the shipments but not authorized to speak publicly about them. Those containers are placed in another container with material to absorb any spills.
Permits for shipping hazardous materials appear on the outside of the package, but the markings don't indicate the type of pathogen inside.
Federal Express, in a statement, acknowledged Friday that it had transferred some of the samples but has done so without problems.
"We can confirm that FedEx transported shipments for the Department of Defense from the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah," the statement said. "All shipments have been safely delivered to their destinations without incident. We are working closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ensure appropriate shipping protocols, policies and regulations are followed by the (Pentagon) on future shipments."
The problem, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was discovered in late April when the supposedly killed anthrax specimens were shipped from a lab at Dugway to 18 labs in nine states. A lab in Maryland notified the Pentagon that the specimen it received was able to grow, raising concerns that others were also not thoroughly killed. Tests continue at the CDC to determine whether any of the other specimens are live.
Four lab workers in Delaware, Texas and Wisconsin are taking antibiotics as a precaution after working with the specimens that could have been inhaled.