DoD to implement new bio-agent protocols in wake of live-anthrax shipments

The Department of Defense (DoD) issued a report late last week detailing new biological-management procedures that are being implemented in the wake of accidental shipments of live anthrax to dozens of labs in the U.S and abroad.

Army Lt. Gen. Thomas Spoehr, commander of the Army Biological Select Agents and Toxins Task Force, said recommendations were made to address gaps in how the DoD manages biological agents, including the establishment of a safety review panel and a screening process for requests for biological agents to determine whether safer replacements could be used. A system also will be put in place to monitor where all shipments of agents are at all times. The Office of the Army Surgeon General also has been appointed to serve as an executive agent who will perform reviews and ensure that procedures and inspections are implemented for all biological-defense programs.

In 2015, approximately 180 live samples of anthrax were shipped accidentally from the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah to several labs in the U.S. and to international facilities in nine countries. The DoD said there were multiple factors that resulted in these shipments being sent. An examination of these incidents found no risks to the general public or laboratory technicians.

“We have – and are – in the process of developing new DoD procedures for the inactivation and testing of bacillus athracis (anthrax), which, when the underlying scientific research is completed — will serve as our single DoD and Centers for Disease Control-validated procedure for this procedure,” Spoehr said.