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Biosecurity Briefing
CDC Halts Select Agent Research at Texas A&M According to a Dallas News article published on July 1, 2007, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suspended all select agent research at Texas A&M University due to the university’s failure to report two human exposures to dangerous biological agents in 2006. According to the article, on Saturday, June 30 the CDC issued a memo indefinitely suspending select agent research and questioning the university’s “biosafety standards” and “security plan.” The memo also warned the university that it could permanently lose its authority to perform research with select agents. This would have major implications for Texas A&M’s National Center for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense, an $18 million DHS-funded facility that develops vaccines for dangerous diseases such as Brucella and Q fever.1 The exposures were initially reported by the Sunshine Project, a bioweapons watchdog group based in Austin, Texas. The group released records “showing that three biodefense researchers were exposed to Q fever in April 2006.” The Dallas News article also indicated that two months prior to these Q fever exposures, another laboratory worker became sick with Brucella after climbing into a chamber “used to expose mice to the agent to disinfect it.”1 In the case of the Q fever exposures, the article reports that “routine blood tests” done by the university came back positive for “elevated levels of certain antibodies” to Q fever, an indication that the researchers had been exposed to the agent. However, CDC officials indicate that they “never received documentation” of the Q fever exposures. University representatives maintain they were told by CDC that “it wasn’t serious enough to warrant a formal report” because none of the researchers fell ill.1 With regard to the Brucella infection, a report was sent to the CDC, but not “for a year” after the incident. Additionally, the article cites an email record that suggests that “at least one principal researcher knew that the university was supposed to report the illness to the CDC.”1 Although university officials “acknowledge that they did not follow [reporting] protocols” in the instance of the Brucella exposure, they are disputing allegations that they “broke the rules with the Q fever exposure.”1 An investigation led by CDC and HHS began in April and is expected to be resolved “by the end of [July],” according to Texas A&M chancellor Mike McKinney. Although no researchers have been fired in association with the investigations, McKinney indicated that the Brucella researcher “has been suspended” until the case is resolved.1 According to Edward Hammond, the director of the Sunshine Project, this unprecedented CDC ban “will send shockwaves” through the U.S. research community and will likely be a “serious blow” to Texas A&M’s chances of securing a contract for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility—another DHS-sponsored high-containment laboratory to be awarded in 2008. Allison Chamberlain References
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