A microbiology professor at a university in Utah gave his students a microbe to identify. The lab instructor expected most of the results, at least from the better students, to come back as the common bacteria Plesiomonas shigelloides. None did. Instead, after studying the microbe's morphology and running chemical tests, they identified it as Neisseria meningitidis, which causes meningitis and other deadly infections. And it can be spread through the air. Checking the storage freezer, they found a vial of N. meningitidis, which shouldn't have been there, as well as P. shigelloides.
As a result, 32 of the 33 students, teachers, and lab workers present were given an antibiotic regimen, and two even had spinal taps! Some of them had been vaccinated for meningitis, which is recommended for college students. An investigation from the state's public health department followed, as well as one from university officials wondering how this happened. In the end, no one came down with a serious illness, but many procedural violations were unearthed. Read the whole story at Ars Technica. -via Damn Interesting
(Image credit: CDC)
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