Texas A&M Fails To Reprort Q Fever, Brucella Infections In Lab Workers To CDC - For A Year

[hatrack]

AUSTIN – Federal authorities are investigating two cases from last year in which Texas A&M researchers were infected with biological weapons agents – including the university's failure to report the exposures when they happened. New documents obtained by The Sunshine Project, an Austin-based bioweapons watchdog group, show three researchers tested positive for exposure to the weapons agent Q fever in April 2006, two months after another researcher fell ill following contact with the agent Brucella.

In neither case did university officials immediately report the exposures to the Centers for Disease Control, as federal law requires. They filed a report on the Brucella case a year after the initial infection, and CDC officials said Tuesday that they still haven't received documentation on the Q fever case.

Von Roebuck, a CDC spokesman, said that the agency is still investigating the Q fever exposure, and that it has turned the Brucella infection over to the Health and Human Services inspector general for further investigation or possible financial penalties. Officials in that office could not be reached for comment.

In a written statement, Texas A&M Executive Vice President and Provost Jerry R. Strawser said the university is awaiting a CDC response on the investigations and would not comment further for now.

EDIT

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/062707dntexinfect.37922e4.html

Oops.

[yardwork]

1. Wow! This is huge. There are strict federal regulations for reporting.

Texas A&M is in danger of losing all their federal funding, if they are treated as others have been treated.