Here's a story -- <font size = "4">The Drunks Bar </font size "4">

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Main index ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, [8], 9, 10 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 21:42:53 01/15/03 Wed
Author: Kelli
Subject: Here's a story
In reply to: Kathy 's message, "Yee-hah! Lubbock done made the national news!" on 15:46:12 01/15/03 Wed

On tonight's Daily Show John Stewart mentioned the story and said something like (going from memory here), "Researchers in Lubbock, Tx apparently breifly lost at least 30 vials containing a bacteria that causes bubonic plague. Hey, that's understandable. It's like when you turn to your wife and say, 'honey, I've been tearing the house apart looking for my reading glasses. Where are those darned things?' And your wife says, 'You big doofus, they're right there on your forehead!' (laughs) Yeah, it's just like that, except it was BUBONIC PLAGUE!!" :-)

Anyway, the plot thickens; there's been an arrest:

LUBBOCK, Texas (CNN) -- The university scientist who allegedly destroyed vials containing bacteria samples that could cause bubonic plague was arrested Wednesday, a law enforcement source said.

Dr. Thomas Butler, 61, was leading a study aimed at developing antibiotics to fight the plague.

Law enforcement sources told CNN he is charged with making false statements to the FBI. He is expected to make an initial appearance before a federal magistrate Thursday morning in Lubbock, the sources said.

The sources said they don't know why Butler, chief of the Infectious Disease Division at Texas Tech University's Department of Internal Medicine, destroyed the vials. The vials were destroyed sometime before January 11, the sources said, and Butler allegedly did not fill out the required documentation.

One law enforcement source said it was Butler who first notified the school that the vials were missing. He repeated his story when questioned by the FBI, saying he did not know how or why the vials came to be missing, but later recanted his story and admitted destroying them himself, the source said.

A spokeswoman for Texas Tech said it is premature to say what action school officials may take and that it is too early to say whether Butler will be suspended pending an investigation.

"I hope we'll be able to continue the research," spokeswoman Cindy Rugely said.

The vials, about 30 in all, were reported missing Tuesday, prompting fears of a potential bioterror threat. Those fears, however, were short-lived, and authorities Wednesday said all of the vials had been accounted for. (More on plague)

A call made to Butler's home by CNN was answered by his wife, who said she was unaware of her husband's arrest and that she hadn't heard from her husband all day. She said her husband has been interviewed by the FBI and that she knows nothing about the destruction of vials.

Mrs. Butler said she believes the situation is being blown out of proportion.

"He's a dedicated man and a good person," she said.

The vials contained bacteria samples that could cause bubonic or pneumonic plague. They came from a stock of about 180 vials that are part of a study by Butler, who has more than 25 years of experience with plague research. The study is aimed at developing antibiotics to fight the plague, university officials said. (Plague treatments)

"This was not weaponized in any way," said Richard Homan, dean of the School of Medicine. "This was material that was obtained through international colleagues of one of our faculty members. It was brought here for further study."

The vials came from the East African nation of Tanzania, law enforcement sources told CNN. They were all classified as plague, and some were classified as bubonic plague. The college received them in April.

CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen said that bacteria and viruses, such as the plague, are widely available to researchers at universities across the United States.

She said that researchers often mail samples to each other and even sent them to colleagues in Iraq before restrictions were imposed.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the plague is an infectious disease of animals and humans caused by a bacterium named Yersinia pestis.

Bubonic plague is usually transmitted from rodents to humans through the bites of infected fleas.

The symptoms are swollen, tender lymph nodes, fever, and extreme exhaustion. Ten to 20 people a year are infected in rural areas of the western United States, while globally there are 1,000 to 3,000 cases a year.

It can be treated with antibiotics, but if it isn't treated promptly, it can cause death. About 14 percent of plague cases in the United States are fatal.

Millions of Europeans died of bubonic plague in the Middle Ages, when flea-infested rats inhabited homes and workplaces.

Pneumonic plague, a more serious form of the disease, occurs when plague bacteria are inhaled after direct contact with infected animals, including rodents, wildlife and pets.

-- CNN National Correspondent Susan Candiotti and Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena contributed to this report.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]