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Staff file photo by Sam Yu
In this September 2003 file photo, Bruce Ivins is seen at the American Red Cross Emergency Shelter in the Frederick Community College gym. |
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Fort Detrick microbiologist Bruce Ivins was placed on administrative duty in March after he spilled a small amount of anthrax on himself, then walked home to wash and dry his clothes before telling his supervisors about the spill.Details of the spill are contained in a potential hazard exposure incident report The Frederick News-Post obtained from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases under the Freedom of Information Act. The report shows that on March 17, Ivins spilled several milliliters of a veterinary vaccine strain of anthrax on his pants while preparing samples of the spores in a biological safety cabinet in a biosecurity level-2 lab. According to the report, Ivins cleaned up the spill, walked to his Military Road home across the street from Fort Detrick, washed his pants with hot water and bleach then dried them before returning to work and informing his supervisor of the spill. The anthrax strain Ivins spilled was the Sterne strain, a live strain used in vaccinating animals, not the Ames strain, which was used in the 2001 anthrax mailings. Ivins died on July 29, after apparently committing suicide. In August, the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation named Ivins as their sole suspect in the anthrax mailings, though they have said they have no hard evidence linking him to the crime. Ivins' attorney has maintained his innocence, and several members of Congress have questioned the Justice Department's assertion that Ivins committed the crime. In the section of the report reserved for suggestions on avoiding similar hazards, Ivins wrote "Don't clean up technicians' messes in BSC." The supervisor's accident analysis reads, in part: "Although the sample was a vaccine strain of B. anthracis, it is our opinion that Dr. Ivins should have reported this spill, although minor, immediately to the suite supervisor and his supervisor." In response to the spill, Ivins' was to be counseled regarding safety issues, and his duties were to be curtailed. "Dr. Ivins will be assigned to administrative duties immediately and for the indefinite future. His badge access has been deactivated for laboratory areas of USAMRIID," the report states. Ivins had already been barred from the high-containment labs where select agents were handled, said Caree Vander Linden, USAMRIID's spokeswoman. Following this incident, Ivins lost access to the rest of USAMRIID's labs.
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