LUBBOCK, Texas (CNN) -- Federal officials are looking for at least 30 vials that may contain the plague and are missing from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
The FBI confirmed that some vials are missing, but a source said there is no clear proof that they contained bacteria that could cause bubonic or pneumonic plague.
Officials don't believe "what is in those vials can be used as a weapon," CNN's Kelli Arena reported.
Lubbock City Council member Frank Morrison said it is premature to say the items were stolen. The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal's Web site reports that a "theft" was reported to Texas Tech police.
"It's a major situation," Morrison said in a television interview, but he urged citizens not to let themselves be "terrorized" by this.
The FBI said that approximately 30 vials are missing.
Federal, state and local authorities are investigating. President Bush received a briefing about the case on Wednesday, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
"I have been briefed by emergency operations center," Morrison said. "There have been a number of vials -- 35 is a generally accepted number. They are missing from the health science center. I believe it is inappropriate to characterize them as stolen vials."
He said the city was notified in the past day or so.
"We're really ramping up a medical response, getting them ready," said Chris Kozlow, of Innovative Emergency Management, a private risk management firm. "That's what would be going on right now."
Sources told CNN the FBI is looking at the possibility that some of the missing vials may have contained the culture for bubonic plague, but the bureau does not have any have concrete proof they did.
The sources said the culture was not in all the vials, but may have been in some of them. They said the FBI is "aggressively looking" for the vials.
"The FBI is in fact investigating this," a bureau spokesman in Washington said. The FBI is working with local and state police officials and university personnel to determine what happened.
CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen said that bacteria and viruses, such as the plague are widely available to researchers at universities across the United States.
She said that researchers often mail samples to each other and even sent them to colleagues in Iraq before restrictions were imposed.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
The plague is an infectious disease of animals and humans caused by a bacterium named Yersinia pestis.
Bubonic plague is a bacterial disease in rodents transmitted to humans through the bites of infected fleas.
The symptoms are swollen, tender lymph nodes, fever, and extreme exhaustion. Ten to 20 people a year are infected in rural areas of the western United States, while globally there are 1,000 to 3,000 cases a year.
It can be treated with antibiotics, but if it isn't treated promptly, it can cause death.
About 14 percent of U.S. plague cases are fatal. Millions of Europeans died from bubonic plague in the Middle Ages, when flea-infested rats inhabited homes and workplaces.
Pneumonic plague, a more serious form of the disease, occurs when plague bacteria are inhaled after direct contact with infected animals, including rodents, wildlife and pets.
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vials containing possible bateria missing
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Rainband
They now say all the vials are accounted for. Hmmm think they might be trying to stop panic. I don't know what to believe, they didn't want to answer any questions......We will see, I do know that they didn't seem to sure of the amount. First they said 35 now they say over 100.
DOESN'T HE LOOK TRUSTWORTHY!!!!!
DOESN'T HE LOOK TRUSTWORTHY!!!!!
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