Breaking: Bubonic plague samples reported stolen from a lab in Lubbock, Texas

The Dallas Morning News ^ | January 15, 2003 | The Dallas Morning News Staff

[MeekOneGOP]

BREAKING NEWS

Bubonic plague samples reported stolen from a lab in Lubbock. Details to come.

[hispanarepublicana]

and for some reason my dtr is bound and determined to go to TTU even though we live 1800 miles away....she is just enamored with Texas...

Maybe it has something to do with the native homegrown scenery--all indiginous to Texas: (just a sample--President George W. Bush, Governor Rick Perry, George Strait)

[TexKat]

According to some one they were interviewing via audio on Fox, if the bubonic plague pathogen is changed into an aerosal, then it can be used as a weapons grade plague(numonic plague.

[CCWoody]

Zoiks! As a resident of Lubbock and a graduate of Texas Tech, I can testify to the large numbers of Middle Eastern students in our engineering & medical schools. I'm not suprised that there is a contigent of FBI here in town.

Of course, I'm leaning in the direction of these things being misplaced and not stolen to make weapons.

[kcvl]

[spectre]

OK, I'll just stay home for awhile? Will that work? grins.

All of these things are scarey, but they follow-up with "just take antibiotics".

It isn't THAT easy to call up a Doctor and get an antiobiotic these days.

I'm not saying we don't need to hear this news today, but we are our worst enemy when it comes to scaring people.

[Lion's Cub]

Someone should inform CNN of that, since they just had a scientist on who said they DON'T KNOW if it was liquid or the powder type which can be converted to the "weapons grade"

Actually, Fox just brought this discrepancy to viewers' attention. They ran a tape from a conference where one official said it might be possible and then noted that the federal official they had talked to said it couldn't be. So I guess we'll have to wait for further clarification.

[VOA]

This strikes me as more of an attempt to scare people than to cause actual deaths.
We'll tie up valuable investigative time looking for these instead of concentrating
on finding the real killer stuff.

I don't disagree with this thought.
At the same time, I'm starting to get the same feeling about Al-Quida/Islamic terrorists
that physicist Enrico Fermi had about the mantra that there must be gazillions
of extra-terrestrial beings...
"So, where are they?" (as in "why haven't I seen any lately?)

If Al-Quida/Islamic terrorists had ANY cojones, you'd think they'd have done
SOMETHING in a New York/Boston subway station or on the BART system in San Francisco.

Heck, apparently these minions of evil haven't even given "the old college try"
at blowing up a major bridge (=economic artery) here in the USA...

I'm just a guy with a background (degrees) in the chemical and biological sciences...
If I went crazy and took up "the sword of Islam", I just about guarantee that
I could find a way to kill a thousand infidels here in the USA in less than
a month's time.

My takehome message?
Either the Islamics have run out of suicidal/homicidal volunteers...
AND/OR
the intelligence community of the USA/"West" is doing one H-E-Double-Toothpicks of
job at breaking up these groups (and keeping their accomplishments quiet!).
Just my fallible opinion...

[Jerry_M]

It is hard for me to get excited about this news story.

Here in New Mexico, we have a dozen or so cases of naturally occuring cases of bubonic plague each year. Most of the time it is found in wild animals, sometimes in cats or dogs, and once in awhile in a human being.

Bubonic plague, hantavirus, we have it all!

[kcvl]

[blackdog]

Rats and fleas have children too you know! Who knows what more lethal imbalance you will cause by ridding vermin and lice from the southwest? Most likely the result of past attempts brought us maladies like West Nile, impotence, ADD, Shiela Jackson Lee, Bill Richardson, and uneven breasts.

It is a fragile ecosystem out there and we are all related you know?

[kcvl]

The Black Death came in three forms, the bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic. Each different form of plague killed people in a vicious way. All forms were caused by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis.

The bubonic plague was the most commonly seen form of the Black Death. The mortality rate was 30-75%. The symptoms were enlarged and inflamed lymph nodes (around arm pits, neck and groin). The term 'bubonic' refers to the characteristic bubo or enlarged lymphatic gland. Victims were subject to headaches, nausea, aching joints, fever of 101-105 degrees, vomiting, and a general feeling of illness. Symptoms took from 1-7 days to appear.

[CCWoody]

Actually, I didn't even hear about this until you pinged me. Since we have so many prarie dogs and it is a disease they carry naturally, I'd have been shocked if the hospital did not have samples.

If the sludge water that gets poured onto the particular prarie dog town to which you alude doesn't kill the varmits, I doubt the plague would wipe 'em all out. It would probably just kill a bunch of them and reduce the population to healthy levels again. We actually have a group of them in town that have to be fed to keep them alive.

[MeekOneGOP]

Yes, I heard them mention weapons grade pneumonic plague. Thanks...

FOX just said in TEN minutes they are having a Press Announcement from Texas Tech University...

I just checked the DMN again and they have updated their story...

---

Plague samples reported missing from Texas Tech

01/15/2003

Associated Press

LUBBOCK - Vials containing samples of lethal bubonic plague have disappeared from Texas Tech University, and the FBI was investigating, authorities said Wednesday.

A statement from the university said vials of bubonic plague, being used to improve treatment of plague victims, were reported missing to campus police on Tuesday.

Thirty-five vials were believed missing from the school's Health Sciences Center, said Frank Morrison, a Lubbock city councilman, who told CNN he was briefed by emergency officials. There was no indication that a theft has occurred, Mr. Morrison said.

A blood smear illustrates the characteristic 'safety pin' appearance of plague bacteria.
(CDC)

"I do not believe it is currently a weapons grade but it can be converted into a weapons grade," Mr. Morrison said.

City officials planned a news conference at 2 p.m. CST.

The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal's Web site, quoting unidentified law enforcement sources, said the vials turned up missing several days earlier but wasn't reported to police until Tuesday. Sixty investigators from various converged on the medical school campus, the newspaper said.

The school said the research was being conducted by Dr. Thomas Butler, chief of its infection disease division, who has been studying the plague for more than 25 years. It said there was no reason to believe the vials were stolen but officials thought it was "prudent" to get law enforcement involved because of current concerns about bioterrorism.

In Washington, FBI officials confirmed that they were contacted Tuesday night and dispatched agents to Lubbock to assist local authorities.

Also Online

Information about plague (From Centers for Disease Control)

White House officials have been briefed on the plague reports, said spokesman Ari Fleischer. He said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also was investigating.

"This is information that is just coming in to the White House and has been for just a short period of time," Mr. Fleischer said. "I'm not in a position to give you any additional information at this time."

He said further details would come from Texas Tech and from the FBI.

Bubonic plague is an infectious disease of animals and humans caused by a bacterium named Yersinia pestis. People usually get it from being bitten by a rodent flea that is carrying the plague bacterium or by handling an infected animal.

The disease can be treated with antibiotics. Health officials say 10 to 20 people in the United States contract plague each year. About one in seven U.S. cases is fatal.

Plague outbreaks have killed about 200 million people in the past 1,500 years. The most infamous, Europe's Black Death, started in 1347, killing 25 million people in Europe and 13 million in the Middle East and China within five years.

Plague -- along with anthrax, smallpox and a handful of other deadly agents -- is on a short watch list distributed by the federal government, which wants to make sure doctors and hospitals recognize a bioterror attack quickly.

But plague's symptoms can be difficult to spot. The disease is characterized by swelling, weakness and fever, symptoms that can signal anything from flu to West Nile virus.

Bubonic plague is not contagious. But left untreated, it can transform into pneumonic plague, a more dangerous disease that can be spread from person to person.

---

Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/tsw/stories/011503dnnatplague.26317654.html

[kcvl]

The pneumonic plague was the second most commonly seen form of the Black Death. The pneumonic and the septicemic plague were probably seen less then the bubonic plague because the victims often died before they could reach other places (this was caused by the inefficiency of transportation). The mortality rate for the pneumonic plague was 90-95% (if treated today the mortality rate would be 5-10%). The pneumonic plague infected the lungs. Symptoms included slimy sputum tinted with blood. Sputum is saliva mixed with mucus exerted from the respiratory system. As the disease progressed, the sputum became free flowing and bright red. Symptoms took 1-7 days to appear.

The septicemic plague was the most rare form of all. The mortality was close to 100% (even today there is no treatment). Symptoms were a high fever and skin turning deep shades of purple due to DIC (disseminated intravascular coagulation). According to Dr. Matt Luther, Vanderbilt University Medical Center "The plague often caused DIC in severe forms, and DIC can be fatal. The picture above demonstrates what DIC can look like. In its most deadly form DIC can cause a victims skin to turn dark purple. The black death got its name from the deep purple, almost black discoloration." Victims usually died the same day symptoms appeared. In some cities, as many as 800 people died every day.

[spectre]

So here is what we have:

1. They don't know IF the vials were even stolen.

They don't know where they are?

They don't know what the vials contain?

They have absolutely nothing to be reporting to get people upset at this point and cause panic in the community.

This kind of "breaking news" is getting out of control.

sw

[Lion's Cub]

Press conference starting.

[per loin]

First the listing of everybody except the dogcatcher.
Next, that's all we have to say at this time.

[blackdog]

I was listening to NPR yesterday and they had a guest from the CDC. She mentioned several times that she had human samples of nasty things and prepared samples for use daily. The really gross/funny part is that these samples are not the high-tech stuff we would all think of. She basically has puke and diarhea stocks from previously infested people who are now dead. Her job is to scrape frozen poop and puke out of a big chunk in the freezer, thaw it, and experiment with it.

Yuck!!!! I wonder if she would like to come pump out my septic tank. My kids were all sick last month.

And yes, I know NPR is nonsense. I just find most of their serious stuff really funny.

[TexKat]

Vials have been accounted for. Investigation will be continued. Wonder who is under investigation.

[per loin]

All vials accounted for.