Anthrax Scare 2015: Live Anthrax Sent to 51 Labs in 17 States & Three Nations

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The suspected live samples of anthrax shipped from a Utah military facility may have been sent to 51 labs in 17 states and in facilities in South Korea, Australia, and Canada, Pentagon officials said on Wednesday.

A preliminary investigation by the Pentagon, led by Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work, found that the total number is expected to rise, reports the LA Times. The investigators are unsure why the shipped anthrax samples were not inactivated, how this incident happened and who are the people to be blamed for this carelessness.

An investigation was immediately launched after a Maryland laboratory contacted the CDC on May 22 when they found live anthrax samples in their shipment.

The labs that received the shipments are in Arizona, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Ohio, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Illinois, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Utah.

The suspected live samples of anthrax were mailed via Fed Ex. Officials said it poses no health hazard to the public since the vials, containing 1 milliliter of liquid anthrax each, were properly sealed. USA Today reports that the samples are too minute to infect a healthy person. However, 31 lab workers who handled the vials are being treated with post-exposure prophylaxis.

Anthrax samples are usually inactivated via irradiation. It is unclear why the researchers at the Utah facility were unable to detect the live anthrax before the samples were shipped, but health officials said that there were no signs of tampering. or other foul play.

"We felt that it was an inactivated and safe ... collection of spores," Work said. "It turned out not to be the case. That immediately started the wheels turning within the department so that we could try to characterize the problem."

According to NBC News, CDC is planning to suspend all anthrax shipments from all labs until they can determine why multiple batches of anthrax samples contained live spores. The Defense Department has also ordered all labs to not use the samples until they get a clearance from the CDC and the Pentagon.

The investigators are in the middle of testing more than 400 batches of the samples that were declared dead to check if any of them are still alive.

Anthrax is produced by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis, according to the CDC. It causes acute bacterial disease that is more often than not fatal if left untreated. Humans can get infected through inhalation or bacterial penetration through a cut or a wound. Eating infected animals can also lead to anthrax infection.