Deadly Guanarito virus from Venezuela goes missing in Texas lab, officials say no need to panic

Deadly Guanarito virus from Venezuela goes missing in Texas lab, officials say no need to panic


A deadly virus that causes hemorrhagic fever has gone missing from a Texas research lab, the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) said in a statement on Monday.

A vial of Guanarito virus, which originates in Venezuela, was revealed as missing after a routine inspection conducted on March 20 and 21 at the Galveston National Laboratory on UTMB’s campus in Galveston, Tex.

Laboratory officials acknowledged the virus as a serious one, and Scott Weaver, the lab’s scientific director, told The Houston Chronicle Guanarito is an emerging disease that has already caused deadly outbreaks in Venezuela.

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The vial, containing what is commonly referred to as Venezuelan hemorrhagic fever, was stored in a Biosafety Level 4 laboratory due to its potential to be weaponized as an aerosol spray. In some South American populations, patients who contracted the virus had a mortality rate of 33%.

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http://life.nationalpost.com/2013/03/26/deadly-guanarito-virus-from-venezuela-goes-missing-from-texas-lab-officials-say-not-to-panic/