U.S. Military Mistakenly Transfers Live Anthrax to Laboratory

Pentagon / AP

BY: Reuters

May 27, 2015 3:56 pm

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. military mistakenly sent at least one live anthrax sample to a private laboratory in Maryland and possibly sent others to eight other states, a U.S. defense official said on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The official said the samples were meant to be sent in an inactive state for research purposes and added the samples were now believed to be secure.

The Pentagon confirmed an investigation into the incident was underway and said there was no public health risk.

It was not immediately clear if anyone in those laboratories might have been exposed before learning they had live, as opposed to inactive, samples.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Lisa Lambert; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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