Panel: Tighten Anthrax-Shipment Procedures

A panel of experts is recommending that the Defense Department tighten and standardize guidelines for shipping potentially deadly biohazard material. Their recommendations, articulated in a July 13 white paper, follow reports that military installations shipped live anthrax spores to 86 stateside and seven overseas facilities during the past 10 years. The report noted that even though the samples “did not pose a risk to the general public,” their transport constituted “a serious breach of regulations.” In each case, the experts noted, installations followed their individual safety procedures. However, they wrote, such procedures vary. They also called for more implementation of rigorous quality-control practice.