Missing Lab Mice Infected With Plague

Buford C Nuzzle-Chunks writes "PhysOrg is reporting that 'The FBI and New Jersey officials have started a hushed but intensive search for three missing lab mice reportedly infected with deadly strains of plague'. The Washington Post says it's not that big a deal, but I was dismayed at the PhysOrg article's quote from Richard Ebright, a Rutgers University microbiologist, about certain federal bio-terrorism labs: 'You have more security at a McDonald's than at some of these facilities.'"

Comments

Have they checked the obvious?

[codergeek42]

If they're "infected wqith a deadly plague," perhaps they simply died?

Re:Have they checked the obvious?

[The Angry Mick]

One of the articles I read said that a scientist was speculating just that. They got out and probably died not too far from the lab.

What I'm curious to know is, if they died and were subsequently consumed by either a larger animal (dog, cat, etc.) or smaller insects, would the plague be transferable to the consumer? In other words, could a roach eat the remains of the mouse, a rat eat the roach, and the whole plague start over yet again?

Just great

[chris09876]

It's always nice to see that the people who deal with dangerous biohazard materials are so careful with what they do. I guess you just get complacent after awhile... it happens with everything. It's unfortunate that there aren't better routines and checks in place to be absolutely certain this kind of thing doesn't happen.

Even if it's no big deal this time, who's to say what could happen in the future if mutant infected lab animals are allowed to roam free? ;-)

The really scarey part....

[evenprime]

The really scarey part is that they had to interview the staff and give them lie detector tests to see if anyone had liberate^H^H^H^H^Hstolen the mice....

I don't get those PETA/ALF types....

Exactly.

[Anonymous Coward]

This is a complete NON-Story that has its roots in the Patriot Act.

First. As glarvat mentioned, the plaque is everywhere. In NM, my home state, rabbits, prarie dogs, gophers, you name it carry the plaque. So if Osama wants to get ahold of some Yersinia pestis he need look no further than the bushes outside his mud-brick hut in Northwestern Pakistan.

Second. The real reason this is an issue is because of the professor from Texas who had apparently misplaced some samples of the Ames strain of Anthrax, which is commonplace in many labs across the country. Now he's in prison. There are details of the case all over the web, but just like everyone else in every profession, as scientists, we make mistakes, don't take perfect notes, misplace things, lose things, etc.

Given that these mice--and a vial of Ames Anthrax--are not a threat and are widely available using simple techniques all over the globe, the normal response would be to note the discrepancy, tell the boss and continue with your work. Work that--you know--is designed to combat these same bugs and actually do something good for Society.

So in the past, this has surely happend at many labs and there were no problems and there really isn't an threat to the public. Now, the FBI swoops in, asks questions, then tries to catch the professor making a misstatement. Even though the original offense, not taking good enough notes about what happened to the mice, is not a crime, the professor will find himself fired, or in jail, or both.

Mice don't have RFID tags and the need to be moved into new cages 2 or 3 times a week. Although not common, they do get misplaced during cage transfers and or experimental procedures. Unfortunately, this professor will likely lose his job because of a simple mistake.

Welcome to 1984.