Kazakh Plague Samples to Aid Biodefense Research

Samples of bubonic and pneumonic plague have been shipped from Kazakhstan to the United States, where they will be used for research on treatments for the disease, U.S. Senator Richard Lugar announced yesterday (see GSN, July 11, 2007).

After more than five years of negotiations between Washington and Astana, U.S. scientists last week were allowed into the Asian nation to package the samples.  A U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo plane then flew the material to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Fort Collins, Colo.

U.S. and Kazakh scientists plan to use the samples in their research on preventive measures and possible cures for the deadly disease, which continues to occur naturally in Central Asia and has been identified as a potential bioterrorism agent.

The shipment occurred through Kazakhstan’s participation in the U.S. Nunn-Lugar program, which aims to secure and eliminate weapons of mass destruction in the former Soviet Union.  Astana last month agreed to extend involvement in the program for another seven years (U.S. Senator Richard Lugar release, Jan. 16).

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