Weeks of investigation by federal and state agencies have failed to uncover how a potential bioterror agent escaped from a Louisiana laboratory four months ago, or how far it has spread.
Since November, four rhesus macaque monkeys and a USDA investigator have been infected. Cultures of Burkholderia pseudomallei somehow got out of the secure facility at Tulane National Primate Research Center in Covington, about 50 miles north of New Orleans, reported USA Today. Officials insist there is no danger to the public.
The bacteria cause meliodosis, a disease with a 50%-fatality rate even with treatment. Because it’s resistant to multiple antibiotics, meliodosis has been researched as a potential biological weapon, though the Tulane lab is said to have been working on a vaccine.
“We’re taking this extraordinarily seriously. It’s very disturbing to us,” Andrew Lackner, director of the Tulane primate center, told USA Today. He also reiterated: “There has never been a public health threat.”
Centers for Disease Control and the US Department of Agriculture, which jointly manage biological research under the Federal Select Agent Program, have suspended all further research at Tulane pending the end of the investigation. The facility has never been suspended before.