Virus-Producing Fungus Missing from Laboratory

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Virus-Producing Fungus Missing from Laboratory

Alameda Sun - Alameda,CA*

Turowski

http://alamedasun.com/index.phpoption=com_content & task=view & id=2697 & I

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An inventory of viruses on hand at Roche Molecular Systems on the

1100 block of Atlantic Avenue revealed 0.5 milliliters of the fungus

Coccidioides immitis missing. C immitis is the fungus producing

spores that cause valley fever.

The virus was in a neutral state, suspended in water, and not a

threat to health, according to Melinda Baker, director of global

communications for Roche.

Police notified the Center for Disease Control and the U.S.

Department of Agriculture, but only as standard procedure. Since

Sept. 11, 2001, C immitis has been catagorized as a biohazard.

" It would take months and months to replicate the fungus to become a

danger to anyone, " said Lt. Art Fuentes, APD Investigations Division

commander. Police agree with Roche Molecular that the missing fungus

was most likely a miscount on an earlier inventory.

Because the fungus was contained in a biohazard level 3 lab,

requiring three keys to enter, and because samples there are

identified only by number, it is highly unlikely that foul play was

an issue, especially when the fungus lives naturally in soil in the

southwestern United States, including the Sacramento and Central

valleys.

But the tiny sample in the Roche lab was " suspended in water, not in

a form that can aresolize and cause harm, " Baker said. The sample is

part of an archive of materials from all over the world collected

for PCR research, on which Roche holds the global patent. " The

archive is from much earlier research, " Baker said. Currently, the

Alameda lab is not engaged in this research. " All biohazard material

is sterilized before being incinerated, " Baker said.

Valley fever is spread through the air by spores of valley fever

fungus. The spores are particularly active during drought seasons,

when the soil is disturbed. It is considered an emerging virus as

more people move into places previously uninhabited, like Arizona.

People with weak immune systems can become seriously ill from the

infection. But 60 percent of infected people will develop no

symptoms at all. Valley fever can be treated with fungus-killing

medicines.

Contact Turowski at eturowski@...