CDC, FBI begin probe after 'smallpox' vials found at Pennsylvania vaccine research lab

A laboratory worker in Pennsylvania "incidentally" discovered vials labelled 'smallpox' while cleaning out a freezer at a research facility of Merck, the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Tuesday. In a statement e-mailed to CNN, the medical regulatory body confirmed that there have been no indication of human contact with the 'small number of frozen vials,' and the laboratory worker who found vials were wearing masks and gloves. As per Live Science, a total of 15 vials with 5 labelled "smallpox" and 10 "vaccinia" were recovered from the industrial freezer in the research facility.

Meanwhile, the CDC and its administrative partners, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have launched a probe into the matter. The investigation has led to a lockdown in the research lab with an alert noting that CDC would take away the vials for further study. As per CNN, this is not the first time such unclaimed vials were discovered. Earlier in 2014, employees of the National Institutes of Health found six vials in an unused storage room at NIH's Bethesda, Maryland campus. The CDC at that time also had confirmed that no one had been exposed to the said vials.

“CDC, its administration partners, and law enforcement are investigating the matter and the vials’ contents appear intact," CDC spokesperson Belsie González said in an email, as per AP.

Only two labs in the world -- a CDC lab in Atlanta and Georgia -- are legally permitted to hold these Cold War-era bioweapons. Governments over time have repeatedly argued over the necessity to store the deadly virus or destroy all known copies on the face of the earth.

More about smallpox

Thanks to robust vaccination programs throughout 1949 to 1980, smallpox, also known as Variola, was declared eradicated in 1980 by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The last known outbreak of the fatal virus was in 1947 when about 15 million people were infected and 30% of them were killed. The last routine vaccination against Variola stopped in 1972, although, some military personnel and researchers still get vaccinated.

Although there are no reports of naturally occurring cases of the disease, the US has continued to focus on the development of vaccines, drugs and diagnoses to protect people against smallpox. During its early spread, Smallpox killed every 3 out of 10 infected persons. Those recovered lived with long-lasting scars. As per CDC, the disease appeared in China in the 4th century CE and spread to Asia and further West in the following time.

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