As if we needed another reason not to fly... Researcher took bacteria on planes Lawyer of Texas Tech scientist insists mode wasn't dangerous Associated Press LUBBOCK -- The Texas Tech University researcher accused of lying to the FBI about missing plague vials has carried live samples of the bacteria aboard commercial airlines, a newspaper reported. Dr. Thomas Butler's lawyer said the professor's method of transporting the plague-causing organism yersinia pestis, or YP, was safe. Lawyer Floyd Holder said Butler secured the samples -- taken from infected Tanzanians -- in a plastic container in his luggage. "He described it to me that it would be impossible to break it with a sledgehammer," Holder said in Friday editions of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. "It was absolutely safe to transport it the way he did." Butler brought the samples to Tech in April 2001. Holder said the samples were preparatory work for a $700,000 grant he was seeking from the Food and Drug Administration to study treatments for plague. Butler cultured the Tanzanian plague specimens in his lab at Tech before delivering samples to Army medical researchers in Maryland, Holder said. Butler then took samples to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention office in Fort Collins, Colo. Vickie Sutton, a lawyer, scientist and director of Tech's Center for Biodefense, Law and Public Policy, disagreed with Holder's statement that Butler's transportation of the bacteria was safe. "The very reason that we have controls for these select agents is because there's a public health risk," Sutton said. Breaking a tube of YP could lead to outbreaks of pneumonic plague, she said. Holder said Butler has imported plague about 60 times over the past 30 years. "Now if there's something wrong, why didn't the CDC say, `Tom, how did you get this stuff into the country?' " Holder said. "They know how he got it in, and they approved of it and ratified it." Butler is charged with making a false statement to a federal agent in an incident that sparked a bioterrorism scare last month. According to court records, Butler gave a handwritten statement to the FBI saying he had accidentally destroyed 30 vials and that he made a "misjudgment" in telling authorities they were missing. He said he didn't realize his story would result in "such an extensive investigation," according to court documents. Butler, who was chief of the infectious diseases division of the department of internal medicine at Tech's medical school, has been involved in plague research for more than 25 years and is internationally recognized in the field. The university has placed Butler on paid leave, changed the locks on his laboratory, blocked him from computer access and barred him from campus.
There is an official system for transporting these things overseas. But, from what I understand, it is a monstrous pain in the butt with the paperwork.
