Monkeys infected by deadly bacteria at Louisiana lab

(Reuters) - Five monkeys at a high-security primate research lab in Louisiana were accidentally infected with or exposed to a deadly bacteria being analyzed at the lab, officials told Reuters on Wednesday. A federal investigator also became sick a day after entering the Tulane National Primate Research Center near New Orleans in January and tested positive for the bacteria, Burkholderia pseudomallei, but it was unclear whether she had been exposed to the bacteria at the center or before her visit, said Tulane spokesman Mike Strecker. The rhesus macaque monkeys had been housed in the veterinary clinic of the center, which is about 40 miles (65 km) north of New Orleans. Research on the bacteria, which was being done to find a vaccine, has been halted while the incident is being investigated, Strecker said. Health officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told Reuters on Wednesday that the clinic has been decontaminated and that high-risk lab workers, veterinary staff and other personnel have tested negative for the bacteria. Of the five monkeys, three were infected and had to be euthanized - two in November and one in December, Strecker said. The remaining two showed antibodies that indicated they had been exposed but never had any symptoms, he said. The investigation is focused on the veterinary clinic where all five had been treated for routine illness or injuries suffered in the breeding colony where they lived, he said. The bacteria can cause a disease called melioidosis in both humans and animals, which has a wide range of symptoms that can be confused with other diseases like tuberculosis or pneumonia, according to the CDC. In late January, an investigator with the U.S. Department of Agriculture became sick after having visited the center, and an antibody test indicated she had been exposed to the bacteria, Strecker said. The investigator, who is no longer sick, is being further tested to try to confirm the origin of the exposure, he said. It is likely that the investigator contacted the bacteria before arriving at Tulane while traveling in an area of the world where the bacteria is endemic, Strecker said. (Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco and Karen Brooks in Austin, Texas; Editing by Susan Fenton and Eric Beech)