U.K. Gets Live Anthrax from U.S. Military

The United Kingdom has been added to the list of countries that have received anthrax from the United States military.

A British Health and Safety spokesman said that an unnamed private lab received the sample in 2007, but the company "destroyed samples shortly after testing," ABC News reported.

"On this basis we do not believe there is any continuing health risk to staff or to the public," the spokesman added. "We look forward to speaking with the US Department of Defence to understand how this issue arose in 2007 and how they will ensure similar situations are avoided in the future."

Other countries that have received live anthrax sample include Australia, Canada and South Korea, aside from 19 states and Washington D.C. in the U.S.

"Another lot came up positive and that lot had sent samples to the UK and Massachusetts," said Col. Steve Warren, BBC News reported.

Col. Warren also noted that they could not be sure that the U.K. obtained activated samples. However, samples from a batch in which some of the bacteria found were sent to the U.K.

Inactivated anthrax samples have been sent to different labs globally for the past decade to help countries in their research for biological warfare. However, recent reports suggest that some suspected samples were not appropriately deactivated, leaving suspicions of the harm these samples may bring.

There are 68 labs around the world that are currently involved in this issue.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work said last week that he believes that the numbers of labs that received live anthrax samples will rise, adding that investigation regarding the shipments, some of which were made through FedEx, continues. He also said, however, that there have been "no suspected or confirmed cases of anthrax infections," as the samples did not contain high concentrations of the lethal disease, according to CNN.

Work believes that the sent samples could contaminate the "average healthy" person.

Tags
Anthrax, United kingdom, United States, Australia, Canada, South Korea
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