US military accidentally shipped live Anthrax sample to lab: official

Washington: The US military accidentally shipped at least one live anthrax sample to a commercial lab in Maryland but there was no public health threat from the mishap, officials said Wednesday.

A Defence Department laboratory in Utah had "inadvertently" transferred the live anthrax sample to a commercial lab and government health authorities were still testing other samples that had been shipped to laboratories in nine other states, a defense official told reporters.

"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 Colonel Steven Warren said in a statement.

The live anthrax sample was discovered by the commercial lab late on May 22 and the other laboratories were then informed, officials said.

At least nine other government and commercial labs in nine states had received anthrax samples and authorities were trying to determine if there were other live spores transported.

The Pentagon was assisting the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which was investigating the incident, Warren said.

The Defence Department lab at Dugway Proving Grounds routinely transfers "dead" anthrax samples, which are inactivated through radiation, for scientific research, officials said.

The lab was working on a project "to develop a field-based test to identify biological threats in the environment," Warren said.

"Out of an abundance of caution, DoD (the Department of Defense) has stopped the shipment of this material from its labs pending completion of the investigation," he said.

The lethal anthrax disease is spread by spores and has been used for bioweapons programs in the United States and elsewhere.

US government laboratories came under fire last year over reported safety lapses in the handling of deadly pathogens, including of anthrax samples.

As a result, health officials suspended the shipment of potentially dangerous pathogens from government labs in Atlanta and the CDC shut down two of its laboratories, including one implicated in the mishandling of anthrax samples.

Lawmakers have demanded stricter oversight of the government labs.

Investigators from the Agriculture Department last year found anthrax was stored in unlocked refrigerators in an unrestricted corridor, and that dangerous materials were transferred using resealable plastic bags.