AUSTIN
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has suspended Texas A&M University’s federal research on some infectious diseases after two cases in which the school failed to report researchers’ exposure to bioweapons agents.
In a memo sent Saturday, the CDC questioned whether Texas A&M meets safety standards and has an appropriate security plan. It also said federal officials will visit the campus this month to review records and interview key researchers.
“We plan to cooperate fully with the CDC and look forward to resolving this matter in an appropriate manner as quickly as possible, so that we can move forward in our work supporting the nation’s homeland defense initiatives,” A&M interim President Eddie Davis said in a statement.
The CDC letter threatened to permanently revoke A&M’s authority to work with “select agents,” the most serious and infectious, if researchers don’t follow federal guidelines.
Texas A&M heads the National Center for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense, which is funded by an $18 million U.S. Department of Homeland Security biodefense research grant.
Three researchers tested positive for exposure to the weapons agent Q fever in April 2006, two months after another researcher fell ill from contact with the another agent, Brucella, according to documents obtained by an Austin-based bioweapons watchdog group.
