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The U.S. military mistakenly sent live anthrax bacteria to laboratories in nine U.S. states and a U.S. air base in South Korea, after failing to properly inactivate the bacteria 11 months ago. The anthrax was initially sent from a Utah military lab and was meant to be shipped in an inactive state as part of efforts to develop a field-based test to identify biological threats. No one appears to have developed any symptoms, but have been given treatments as a precaution.
What went wrong? What are the best way to handle diseases such as this?
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U.S. Military Mistakenly Ships Live Anthrax To Nine States
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 29 2015, @02:47AM
What went wrong?
The bacteria was incompletely inactivated and there were still spores that could germinate.
What are the best way to handle diseases such as this?
Require vaccination for any researchers that would receive inactivated anthrax. Require testing for live bacteria on the receiving end before use for experiments at a lower safety level. Evaluate which safety measures are necessary and which ones that just cause fatigue and corner-cutting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alarm_fatigue [wikipedia.org]