Secret California Medic Lab Stored COVID, Hundreds of Dead Mice in Warehouse; ‘Fairly shocking’: Secret Medical Lab in California Stored Bioengineered Mice Laden with COVID, and other C-Virus related stories
Secret California medic lab stored COVID, hundreds of dead mice in warehouse:
California officials were thrown for a loop when a routine hose inspection uncovered an illegal medical lab filled with infectious agents, hundreds of dead mice, and other hazardous materials operating inside a warehouse.
The City of Reedley’s code enforcement team stumbled upon the lab last December, with a months-long investigation revealing that Prestige BioTech and Universal Meditech Inc. were holding vials of at least 20 infectious viruses, bacteria and parasites – including COVID-19, E. Coli and malaria, according to court documents filed at the Superior Court of the State of California.
“There was over 800 different chemicals on site in different bottles of different acids. Unfortunately, a lot of these are being categorized under unknown chemicals,” Joe Prado, the Assistant Director of the Fresno County Department of Public Health, told KSEE.
“A lot of these labels have been removed from bottles so there was only so much testing we could do. I’ve never seen this in my 26-year career with the County of Fresno,” he added.
Officials also found nearly 1,000 diseased and bioengineered mice, with about 200 of rodents already dead.
Investigators said they documented all the biological agents they could before destroying the dangerous materials on July 7 after emptying the warehouse. The process included euthanizing 773 of the surviving rats.
Reedley officials made the discovery when they spotted a green garden hose running through the abandoned property late last year, and upon knocking at the door of the warehouse, it was clear a business was operating there without permission.
By March, health officials inspected the area and made the shocking find, with the workers there telling officials that they were developing COVID and pregnancy tests, according to the court documents. —>READ MORE HERE
‘Fairly shocking’: Secret medical lab in California stored bioengineered mice laden with COVID
A monthslong investigation into a rural California warehouse uncovered an illegal laboratory filled with infectious agents, medical waste and hundreds of mice bioengineered “to catch and carry the COVID-19 virus,” according to Fresno County authorities.
Health and licensing said Monday that Prestige Biotech, a Chinese medical company registered in Nevada, was operating the unlicensed facility in Reedley, California, a small city about 24 miles southeast of Fresno. The company, according to Reedley City Manager Nicole Zieba, had a goal of being a diagnostics lab.
“They never had a business license,” Zieba told USA TODAY. “The city was completely unaware that they were in this building, operating under the cover of night.”
The Fresno County Public Health Department launched its investigation into the facility in December 2022 after a code enforcement officer saw a garden hose attached to a building that was presumed to be vacant and had no active business license, Zieba said.
Further inspection in March revealed that the facility housed various chemicals, suspected biological materials, bodily fluids and hundreds of lab mice, among other lab supplies, according to court documents.
County public health officials said they also found medical devices believed to have been developed on-site, such as COVID-19 and pregnancy tests.
“Being a small, rural town of 26,000 − walking into what we believed to be a vacant building and finding lab supplies, live white mice … was was fairly shocking,” Zieba said.
After several attempts to communicate with Prestige Biotech, Fresno County officials are accusing the company of not being forthcoming with information and failing to comply with orders, such as providing a plan for hazardous and medical waste disposal.
Fresno County Public Health staff completed biological abatement work of all the materials found in the facility by July 7, according to court documents. —>READ MORE HERE
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