News
Published online: 16 September 2005; Corrected online: 19 September 2005
| doi:10.1038/news050912-13
Lab loses trio of plague mice
Risk to public is thought negligible.
Roxanne Khamsi
Three mice infected with the bacteria that cause bubonic plague have
gone missing from a laboratory in Newark, New Jersey. Authorities have
launched a search for the animals and an investigation into how they
might have escaped. But researchers are quick to add that the mice, even
if they are on the loose, pose little risk to the public.
"At this point we are satisfied that there is no public-safety risk, but
the investigation is ongoing," says Steve Siegel of the US Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Newark office.
The mice, which carried Yersinia pestis bacteria, were being studied at
the Public Health Research Institute as part of a vaccine experiment.
The institute, which handles about 10,000 mice a year, had a total of 24
plague mice in this experiment. Eight of these had not been vaccinated,
8 had been given the best current vaccine, and 8 had an experimental
version: each group is missing a mouse, and has been for the past
two-and-a-half weeks.
There are many potential explanations. The rodents could have been
stolen or accidentally incinerated along with bedding from the cages. It
is even possible that they ate each other, as mice are known to do this
when they have plague. The institute's director, David Perlin,
acknowledges the possibility of theft, but says he thinks it is more
likely to be "an honest mistake".
Some estimate that research into plague and plague vaccines has tripled
in the United States following fears of bioterrorism sparked by the 11
September 2001 attacks. This trend means there are more infected animals
scattered about the country that could, potentially, go missing.
But experts have expressed surprise that such mice could actually
escape. Research on plague takes place under tight security, in labs
categorized as biosafety level 3 (out of a possible 4). Perlin adds
there is some video surveillance in the institute.
"I've never heard of such an incident before in my life," says Brendan
Wren, a scientist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
who helped to sequence the DNA of the plague bacterium.
"The CDC is working with the FBI and local officials to see what
happened," says Von Roebuck, a spokesman for the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.
If the mice did actually escape from the lab, they would have quickly
died from the disease. And the animals' bodies wouldn't be expected to
pose a risk after decomposing for several days.
Wren notes that having plague running wild is not as unusual as some
might think. The Y. pestis bacterium can be found in many parts of the
United States, and squirrels sometimes carry the disease in the
southwest of the country.
According to the World Health Organization, between 1,000 and 3,000
people around the globe contract plague each year. The disease can be
treated effectively with antibiotics.
The infection usually passes from mice to humans through fleas, but it
can also be transmitted by breathing the infected breath of another animal.
Wren says this is an unlikely risk from escaped lab animals: "I can't
see the mice sneezing on a human."
* The original version of this story incorrectly stated that the entire
lab is under video surveillance.
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