ATLANTA, March 27 (UPI) -- The FBI has been handed the job of investigating the disappearance of a vial of a deadly Venezuelan rodent virus from a Texas laboratory, an official said.
Dr. Rob Weyant of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told ABC News the incident at the $174 million Galveston National Laboratory has been reported to the FBI.
"We understand that the FBI will initiate an investigation concerning the reported incident," said Weyant, director of the CDC's Division of Select Agents and Toxins.
The Galveston National Laboratory noticed the vial was missing March 21 as it prepared for an annual CDC inspection, Weyant said.
Lab spokesman Raul Reyes said the virus in the missing vial doesn't pose a public health risk because the Guanarito virus usually only spreads between rodents in Venezuela.
Only one scientist worked with the virus, Reyes said, and the lab suspects the scientist may have accidentally thrown the vial away.
