USA Today conducted an investigation and found more than 200 biosafety labs in the U.S.
These biolabs include level 3 and 4 lab facilities that work with dangerous pathogens. Some of the lab are accused of fighting to keep their safety records secret, USA Today noted.
An illegal Chinese-owned biolab was discovered in California, raising concerns about potential dangers posed by such facilities.
The discovery was made by Jesalyn Harper, a code enforcement officer, who stumbled upon the potentially deadly lab in Reedley, California.
“As Ms Harper entered the building she discovered ‘Biohazard’ signs; vials labelled in a mix of English, Mandarin and some kind of cipher; and hundreds of caged white mice,” The Economist reported.
“She had found an ‘invisible’ biolab: a privately operated and funded lab that can avoid government oversight,” the report continued.
“It was run by Jia Bei Zhu, a man with alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and who is wanted in Canada, from which he is said to have fled after he was ordered to pay 330m Canadian dollars for stealing American intellectual property on dairy-cattle breeding,” the report added.
A study by The Intercept found an alarming number of accidental releases of dangerous pathogens at legal U.S. biolabs.
“There were 219 reported releases of biological select agents or toxins from biolabs in the U.S. in 2019, according to the most recent annual report of the Federal Select Agent Program, a joint effort of the CDC, NIH, and U.S. Department of Agriculture to manage the use and transport of some of the most dangerous biological agents and toxins, including ricin, Ebola, and anthrax,” the Intercept reported.
“Of those releases, 195 led to occupational exposures and 177 led to the administration of health services, including prophylaxis. The Federal Select Agent Program did not respond to questions about how many of the select agents and toxins it oversees were released in 2020 and how many times the agents that were released came from BSL-2, BSL-3, or BSL-4 labs,” the report added.
In response to the discovery, Dr. Jim Thorp said, “The threat of hazardous and illegal biolabs is more than just a remote threat. You don’t have to travel to Wuhan or Ukraine to uncover these breeding grounds for the next pandemic – indeed we have seen them discovered here in the United States.”
“Our government must immediately step-up efforts to shut down these dangerous biohazard labs at home and abroad and until these labs are shuttered for good, I encourage all Americans to stockpile the medications necessary to protect you and your family,” Thorp added.
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