Fort Detrick suspends research after pentagon finds trouble with tracking pathogens. The suspension, announced internally last week at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), was attributed to concerns about whether the facility had an accurate inventory of all the deadly “select agents” in its freezers and refrigerators.
Last week’s suspension of much of the germ-warfare research at the military’s top bio-defense laboratory is just the latest in safety problems at bio-defense facilities around the country attributed to lax security.
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9,200 Uncounted Vials Found At Army Lab
“I believe that the probability that there are additional vials of BSAT not captured in our database is high,” Skvorak wrote in the memo. He added:
“We must take immediate steps to meet the Army and Defense Department definition of 100% accountability. Therefore, we will stand down until we have inventoried all freezers and refrigerators.”