Deadly bacteria release sparks concern at Louisiana lab

[bananas]

Source: USA Today

A dangerous, often deadly, type of
bacteria that lives in soil and water has
been released from a high-security
laboratory at the Tulane National Primate
Research Center in Louisiana. Officials say
there is no risk to the public. Yet despite
weeks of investigation by multiple federal
and state agencies, the cause of the
release and the extent of the
contamination remain unknown, according
to interviews and records obtained by USA
TODAY.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/03/01/tulane-primate-bio-lab-bacteria-release/24137053/

[C Moon]

1. :/ hmmmm

[wildbilln864]

2. if the cause isn't known then how do they know it was released?

too soon for the tin foil so I'm just going to slap my forehead. WTF!?

[AtheistCrusader]

3. Someone spotted it introducing an anti-abortion bill in the state House.

[littlemissmartypants]

4. Ding.

We have a winner.

[drm604]

6. They know it was released because, as the article says,

four research animals and one human have tested positive for exposure to the bacteria.

[jeff47]

9. No, actually they just know they were exposed.

It's a naturally-occurring bacteria. So exposure did not have to come from the lab.

[drm604]

13. I don't think it's naturally occurring on this continent.

Even if it is, they identified the infections as the strain that they were working with.
From the article:

The Tulane incident involves the release, possibly in November or earlier, of a bacterium called Burkholderia pseudomallei, which is primarily found in Southeast Asia and northern Australia and is spread to humans and animals through direct contact with contaminated soil and water where it can live and grow.
...
SICK MACAQUES SIGNAL A BREACH
...
By mid-January, additional testing by CDC scientists determined that the strain of bacteria that sickened the two macaques was identical to the strain Tulane was using in its research in a highly secured lab elsewhere on the property.

[jeff47]

14. Neither is ebola.

You can suspect a breach due to this incident. You can not prove there was a breach just with this incident.

The article is written as if the lab is the only possible source of the bacteria. That isn't true.

[drm604]

15. Nothing in science is 100% certain but this is close enough.

Seriously, where else could it have come from?

They were working with this exact same strain in a nearby lab. If there were any other reasonable source for it, I think they'd realize that, and they seem pretty certain that it must have come from the lab. Why go looking for some obscure and unlikely source when there's an obvious one?

There's a saying, "when you hear hoofbeats, look for horses, not zebras.

[jeff47]

16. The shoes of people delivering new samples.

It's a soil bacteria. Walk on soil in Australia where this bacteria is natural while collecting samples. Fly to US. Walk on US soil. Ta-da! bacteria in the US.

Why go looking for some obscure and unlikely source when there's an obvious one?

Because we already looked at the obvious source and did not find anything. So it's time to look for other causes, to see if they could be the cause.

[dballance]

5. So glad Jindal and his admin is on top of keeping citizens safe /nt

[murielm99]

7. Captain Trips? n/t

[dreamnightwind]

8. Macaque!

Yet at least four monkey-like rhesus macaques — that were never used in the experiments and were kept in large outdoor cages in another part of the 500-acre facility — have been exposed to the bacteria, initial tests have found. Two of the macaques became ill in November; both eventually had to be euthanized. Meanwhile, a federal investigator, who became ill 24 hours after visiting the facility in January as part of the ongoing release investigation, has also tested positive for exposure to the bacteria — though it remains unclear whether her exposure may have occurred during international travel and not at the lab.

Anyone seen George Allen lately?

edit to add, I read more of the article, kind of sorry to have joked about it, this looks very serious! The lab where they were using this bacteria is nowere near the infected (now deceased) monkees, if I read the map correctly it's on the other side of campus from them, so potentially this is a very serious problem that needs to be exhaustively investigated.

[Sunlei]

10. Melioidosis

Tulane National Primate
Research Center

take a look at it on google map, the facility has junkpiles in backs of some of the buildings and a drainage pond area with overflows ground marks right to the river and woods.

[FLPanhandle]

11. So, how do they know its no risk to the public?

They don't seem to know enough to say that yet.

[Javaman]

12. so this is how the zombie apocalypse starts. or 28 days later...take your pick. nt

[Alkene]

17. I guess Resident Evil was a training simulator? n/t

[Javaman]

18. damn, you found out!!!

you will get a knock on you door in a few hours, run for it!