GALVESTON, TX – It’s one thing for your house to be a hot mess; but if you let a biochemical research lab get out of sorts that could be bad.
The day after the University of Texas Medical Branch said they misplaced a vial of potentially deadly virus, we’re hearing more about lab safety in general. And this won’t make you feel any better.
Ever since those anthrax mailings after 9-11, bioweapon research has become a multi-billion dollar industry. But a report from the Government Accountability Office says there are no universal standards for the labs. That opens the door for potentially dangerous human error, which brings us back to UTMB.
They didn’t get back to us today about any updates.
That missing virus, Guanarito, caused hemorrhagic fever in Venezuela. Last we heard there’s no “appreciable public health risk” here. Let’s hope that’s still true.
