Texas A&M Denies Cover Up In Bioagent Case

[Blake]

(AP) COLLEGE STATION Texas A&M University interim President Eddie Davis said the school made a mistake when it failed to notify the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about a lab worker's exposure to a bioweapon agent and he denied any allegation of a cover-up.

Davis also said Monday that the university did nothing wrong when it didn't immediately notify the agency of three lab workers exposed to a different agent.

On Saturday, the CDC suspended Texas A&M's federal research on the most dangerous infectious diseases, citing the two cases in which the school didn't immediately report the researchers' exposure.

The agency, which is planning an investigative visit to the campus this month, questioned whether Texas A&M meets safety standards and has adequate oversight.

Davis said miscommunication between researchers and administrators was behind Texas A&M's failure to report a female lab worker's illness with brucellosis in early 2006.

"At the time this incident occurred, there was a transitioning of responsibility for reporting exposure to the CDC," he said. "It should've been reported. It was not."

In the other case, three researchers tested positive for exposure to the weapons agent Q fever in April 2006.

Davis said he disagrees with the CDC's interpretation of federal reporting guidelines in the Q fever case, which resulted in no illness. The university reported it to CDC more than a year later in an abundance of caution because of the Brucella reporting lapse, Davis said.

He said the CDC may now be punishing the university for the late report.

"We increased our caution to report everything we could find," Davis said. "It does seem somewhat inappropriate to be punished for that."

The diseases can cause high fevers and flulike symptoms, but are rarely fatal in humans. They are highly contagious in animals, but aren't transferable among humans.

Davis said there was no public health risk and he knew of no other exposures at Texas A&M.

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. The university is also vying to host the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, a federal lab to be awarded in 2008.

The CDC suspension affects five labs, four principal investigators and more than 120 lab researchers at Texas A&M. One key researcher has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of the agency's investigation.

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