nothing to see here, go about your biznessA vial containing a virus has gone missing from a laboratory at the University of Texas Medical Branch, officials said.
"eh, wotta ya mean, missing?"
The missing vial, which contains less than a quarter of a teaspoon a potentially harmful material, had been stored in a locked freezer, designed to handle biological material safely, within the Galveston National Laboratory on UTMB's campus, according to a statement from the medical branch released Saturday. During a routine internal inspection on Wednesday and Thursday, UTMB officials realized one vial of a virus called Guanarito was not accounted for at the facility. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was notified immediately.
"I thought it was Splenda™"
UTMB said that there was no breach in the facility's security and no indication that any wrongdoing is involved, according to the statement.
This marks the first time that any vial containing a select agent has been unaccounted for at UTMB, officials said. The vial does not appear to have been stolen. Officials suspect that the virus was likely destroyed during the normal laboratory decontamination and cleaning process, but the investigation is ongoing.
so, it's missing, but you can say it doesn't appear to have been stolen?
Guanarito is native only to Venezuela and can cause hemorrhagic fever. The virus is not known to be transmitted person-to-person and poses no public health risk, according to officials. In the limited area of Venezuela where the virus is found, it is transmitted only by rodents native to the area and is not believe to be capable of surviving naturally in rodents in the United States.
ahhhh. Well, Hoogo, now we know, eh?