Did U.S. military labs mishandle bubonic plague, viruses?

Catherine E. Shoichet
By Catherine E. Shoichet and Ross Levitt, CNN
3 minute read
Updated 5:14 PM EDT, Thu September 10, 2015
This is what causes the plague. <em>Yersinia pestis</em> bacteria, colored in yellow, are seen on the spines inside a flea's digestive system.
This is what causes the plague. Yersinia pestis bacteria, colored in yellow, are seen on the spines inside a flea's digestive system.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
The bacterium that is responsible for the plague can sometimes infect the blood, causing the hands, feet, nose and lips to become gangrenous and black. This form of the disease is almost always fatal if not treated with antibiotics.
The bacterium that is responsible for the plague can sometimes infect the blood, causing the hands, feet, nose and lips to become gangrenous and black. This form of the disease is almost always fatal if not treated with antibiotics.
CDC / Dr. Jack Poland
A map shows reported cases of human plague in the United States from 1970 to 2012. Nearly all cases occur in the western U.S., for reasons that are not entirely understood. Plague first came to the U.S. in 1900 via rats on steamships from Asia.
A map shows reported cases of human plague in the United States from 1970 to 2012. Nearly all cases occur in the western U.S., for reasons that are not entirely understood. Plague first came to the U.S. in 1900 via rats on steamships from Asia.
CDC
Rats are one of the many rodent species that carry the plague. The disease is typically spread to people through a bite from a rodent flea. Although recent research may exonerate rats as primarily responsible for the Black Death, and instead put the blame on gerbils, rats probably played a role in that and other plague epidemics.
Rats are one of the many rodent species that carry the plague. The disease is typically spread to people through a bite from a rodent flea. Although recent research may exonerate rats as primarily responsible for the Black Death, and instead put the blame on gerbils, rats probably played a role in that and other plague epidemics.
Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
The plague doctor is in. The hat, goggles, gown and beak-like mask identified a person as a plague doctor in the Middle Ages. The uniform was used for protection; the beak contained herbs and perfumes intended to cover the stench associated with plague disease.
The plague doctor is in. The hat, goggles, gown and beak-like mask identified a person as a plague doctor in the Middle Ages. The uniform was used for protection; the beak contained herbs and perfumes intended to cover the stench associated with plague disease.
A patient with plague symptoms, foreground, awaits test results with his mother at New Delhi's Disease Hospital in 1994. Pneumonic plague, which infects the lungs, is the most serious form of the disease and the only way it can spread directly between people. A plague outbreak in India in 1994 was among the most serious in the world in recent decades.
A patient with plague symptoms, foreground, awaits test results with his mother at New Delhi's Disease Hospital in 1994. Pneumonic plague, which infects the lungs, is the most serious form of the disease and the only way it can spread directly between people. A plague outbreak in India in 1994 was among the most serious in the world in recent decades.
AP Photo/John Moore
Taylor Gaes died of the plague this spring, a day before he would have turned 16. Officials think he was infected from a flea bite on his family's ranch in Larimer County, Colorado. The high school sophomore began having flu-like symptoms after he pitched in a baseball game. Although plague remains rare, it is often mistaken for the flu because it causes fever and chills.
Taylor Gaes died of the plague this spring, a day before he would have turned 16. Officials think he was infected from a flea bite on his family's ranch in Larimer County, Colorado. The high school sophomore began having flu-like symptoms after he pitched in a baseball game. Although plague remains rare, it is often mistaken for the flu because it causes fever and chills.
From Poudre High School
Plague: a scourge of biblical proportions

Story highlights

A new inquiry begins after CDC inspectors find a plague sample outside a containment area

Investigators are trying to determine whether samples were shipped, a Pentagon spokesman says

He says there's no risk to the health of workers or the public

CNN  — 

The U.S. Department of Defense is looking into possible mishandling of bubonic plague and equine encephalitis samples at its laboratories, a Pentagon spokesman said Thursday.

The new inquiry is part of an investigation into the mishandling of anthrax at Department of Defense labs, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said.

The department hasn’t determined whether samples containing plague bacteria and specimens of the deadly virus were shipped from its labs, Cook said.

“One of the things they’re doing right now is trying to assess whether any of these substances, first of all, pose any sort of threat; second of all, whether these substances were shipped to any other laboratories,” he said.

UK received live anthrax from Pentagon

He said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined there is no risk to the health of workers or the public.

Pressed by reporters for more answers about the investigation at a briefing Thursday, Cook said he was revealing everything he could.

“We’re trying to be as forthcoming as we can be right now without alarming the public,” he said.

Labeling, storage raise concerns

The latest investigation started after CDC inspectors found a sample of the plague in a freezer outside of a containment area on August 17 at the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center in Maryland, Cook said.

Investigators are working to determine whether the sample posed an “infectious threat,” Cook said. Army tests found it was not infectious.

“That’s the scientific work that’s being done at this particular time, determining exactly what happened there, and whether or not … there was mislabeling,” he said.

Investigators are also looking into whether samples of equine encephalitis were labeled properly in logs, he said.

Anthrax shipments sparked inquiry

Earlier this year the Defense Department began an investigation after determining live anthrax samples had been shipped from Pentagon labs to 86 research facilities in the United States and at least seven foreign countries over the last several years.

Last week, the secretary of the Army directed an immediate review of safety procedures at all Defense Department labs and facilities involved in the handling of toxic agents, such as anthrax.

The review ordered by Secretary John McHugh follows the discovery of anthrax contamination at a facility in Utah along with instances of incomplete record keeping at two other facilities in the United States.

Bacteria, virus can be deadly

Cook didn’t provide details about the samples in question. A report in USA Today said the investigation involved specimens of Yersinia pestis, the bacteria that causes plague, and also two viruses that can cause serious illnesses: Eastern equine encephalitis and Venezuelan equine encephalitis.

Yersinia pestis, the same type of bacterium that was responsible for the plague pandemic that wiped out 60% of the European population between the 14th and 17th centuries, maintains a foothold in the United States and around the globe in rodents and the fleas that live on them. Today, the infections are treatable with antibiotics if they’re caught early enough. Since 1970, there have been anywhere from a few to a few dozen cases of plague every year in the United States, most of them occurring in Western states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Eastern equine encephalitis and Venezuelan equine encephalitis are viruses that can be spread to humans by mosquitoes. According to the CDC, only a few cases of the illness are reported in the United States each year, but it’s one of the most severe mosquito-transmitted diseases in the country, resulting in death in roughly a third of cases and causing significant brain damage in most survivors.

CNN’s Barbara Starr, Jamie Crawford and Debra Goldschmidt contributed to this report.