Sep 17, 2008 10:58 am US/Eastern
Texas Germ Labs Took Precautions As Ike Neared
WASHINGTON (AP) ―
Scientists on Galveston Island sealed up highly infectious germs days before Hurricane Ike hit the Gulf coast and officials say the deadly agents have stayed safely stored despite the mighty storm.
The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston is home to two high-level biohazard labs where experiments are conducted on small amounts of such highly infectious germs as the virus that causes bird flu.
But while Hurricane Ike was churning in the Gulf of Mexico, ongoing experiments on hemorrhagic fever and encephalitis gradually shut down before the storm hit. Anything left over was incinerated, said Raul Reyes, a UTMB spokesman.
The labs generally have a lighter experiment workload during hurricane season, so many of the germs used in other times of the year already were sealed away and refrigerated, Reyes said.
As Ike moved in, dry ice was added to the refrigerators, in the event of failure of generators backing up the emergency power systems.
"Everything worked in terms of the research side the way it's supposed to. We locked it down. We made sure there was no danger to the public, to our employees or to the community. Containment within containment within containment is working," Reyes said.
The lab kept emergency medical staff and researchers who had ice in freezers as Ike slammed Galveston. Reyes said the lab has ordered and received 44,000 pounds of dry ice from a Houston vendor on contract.
The first floor of the building containing the labs, the Keiller Building, had some flooding, but the labs are about two stories above ground and were not affected, Reyes said.
The lab has provided updates via its Web site on conditions. On Saturday, lab officials used the site to tamp down rumors that the Galveston National Lab, whose construction is almost complete, had been damaged. Officials said no damage to the lab could be seen.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has checked in daily with officials at the Galveston lab since the hurricane struck, as is standard procedure, said Von Roebuck, CDC's spokesman for biosecurity issues. The lab's emergency power is working and "we've not heard of any problems or issues concerning the facility," he said.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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