Who the hell is running the show over there?
LUBBOCK, Texas (CNN) – Federal officials are looking for at least 30 vials that may contain the plague and are missing from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
The FBI confirmed that some vials are missing, but a source said there is no clear proof that they contained bacteria that could cause bubonic or pneumonic plague. About 14 percent of plague cases in the United States are fatal.
Officials don’t believe “what is in those vials can be used as a weapon,” CNN’s Kelli Arena reported.
The vials were part of a study by Dr. Thomas Butler, chief of infectious diseases in the Department of Internal Medicine at the university’s Health Sciences Center. The study is aimed at developing antibiotics to fight the plague, the university said.
Lubbock City Council member Frank Morrison said it is premature to say the items were stolen. The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Web site reports that a “theft” was reported to Texas Tech police.
“It’s a major situation,” Morrison said in a television interview, but he urged citizens not to let themselves be “terrorized” by this.
The FBI said that approximately 30 vials are missing.
President Bush received a briefing about the case on Wednesday, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
“I have been briefed by emergency operations center,” Morrison said. “There have been a number of vials – 35 is a generally accepted number. They are missing from the health science center. I believe it is inappropriate to characterize them as stolen vials.”
He said the city was notified in the past day or so.
“We’re really ramping up a medical response, getting them ready,” said Chris Kozlow, of Innovative Emergency Management, a private risk management firm. “That’s what would be going on right now.”
The sources said the culture was not in all the vials, but may have been in some of them. They said the FBI is “aggressively looking” for the vials.
“The FBI is in fact investigating this,” a bureau spokesman in Washington said. The FBI is working with local and state police officials and university personnel to determine what happened.