FORT DETRICK, Md., July 20 (UPI) -- The U.S. government has closed several labs at a bioterror defense research facility at Fort Detrick, Md., as part of an FBI criminal investigation.
The investigation at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases was initiated Friday, said Debbie Wiereman, spokeswoman for the FBI's Washington Field Office. The office has been leading the Amerithrax investigation since anthrax-laced letters killed five people in the fall of 2001. Cross contamination spread anthrax spores through the U.S. postal system, contributing to the infection and deaths of an additional 17 people.
Wiereman declined to confirm news reports that the new investigation is linked to the anthrax attacks.
The rest of the labs at the large campus will continue operating, USAMRIID said in a statement Tuesday.
"The temporary closing of laboratory suites is not associated with any incident that could pose a public or occupational health threat," the statement said. "Normal research operations will continue in the remainder of USAMRIID laboratories."
