At least one lab, in Maryland, has confirmed that it received the live samples which were shipped using a commercial delivery service from an Army facility in Utah. As many as eight other labs, in eight other states, are believed to have also mistakenly received the potentially fatal spores.
In addition to sending the live samples across the United States, a live sample was also sent to Osan Air Base, a US military base in South Korea.
States that may have received the biological threat are Texas, Maryland, Wisconsin, Delaware, New Jersey, Tennessee, New York, California and Virginia.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated on Wednesday that they do not suspect the general public is at risk, and Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said there are not yet any confirmed cases of anthrax infection among the potentially exposed lab technicians. But four people have been asked to take antibiotics just to be safe, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spokesperson Jason McDonald told Sputnik.
“Four lab workers were identified and asked to take antibiotics as a precaution by state health officials,” McDonald said on Wednesday.
Until an investigation is completed, the Department of Defense has stopped any further shipment of the spores from its labs. All of the samples involved are being securely transferred to the CDC and other labs for testing, the Associated Press reported.
Anthrax infection is an acute disease which can be lethal in humans. The bacteria can survive for centuries in almost any conditions and can be transmitted via the intestines (ingestion), lungs (inhalation), or skin (cutaneous). If treated quickly, the disease does respond well to antibiotics and cannot be spread from person to person.
