--- title: Anthrax: Pentagon Accidentally Sends Live Samples to Multiple Labs description: Officials say there is no risk to the public. canonical: https://time.com/3899190/pentagon-anthrax-lab-accident/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-27T23:49:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T07:41:04.994Z article:section: Health og:title: Pentagon Accidentally Sends Live Anthrax to Multiple Labs og:description: Officials say there is no risk to the public og:url: https://time.com/3899190/pentagon-anthrax-lab-accident/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a96ef0672beb1ad/698851f9e20a876280a8b902/anthra.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 128627951 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Pentagon Accidentally Sends Live Anthrax to Multiple Labs twitter:description: Officials say there is no risk to the public twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a96ef0672beb1ad/698851f9e20a876280a8b902/anthra.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Pentagon Accidentally Sends Live Anthrax to Multiple Labs by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin May 27, 2015 11:49 PM UTC  Anthrax bacteria. Light micrograph of a section through tissue infected with anthrax bacteria (Bacillus anthracis). These Gram-positive bacteria (small red rods) are seen with cells (blue) with oval red nuclei. Commonly a livestock infection, B. anthracis Anthrax bacteria. Light micrograph of a section through tissue infected with anthrax bacteria (Bacillus anthracis). These Gram-positive bacteria (small red rods) are seen with cells (blue) with oval red nuclei. Commonly a livestock infection, B. anthracisGetty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin May 27, 2015 11:49 PM UTC The Pentagon acknowledged Wednesday that samples of live anthrax were unintentionally mailed to labs in nine states and South Korea, as officials had believed that the samples were dead. Col. Steve Warren, the Pentagon’s acting press secretary, told reporters there were no suspected or confirmed cases of infection and no risk to the public, according to ABC News. Anthrax can cause severe illness and even death among people who come in contact with it; dead anthrax samples can be used for research. The samples were apparently shipped from Dugway Proving Ground in Utah on April 30 to a military lab in Maryland, then distributed to labs in nine states. After a lab in Maryland found out their package included live samples, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was alerted. The CDC and the Department of Defense are working together to investigate the matter. \[[_ABC News_](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/pentagon-inadvertently-shipped-live-anthrax-labs-states/story?id=31346018)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3899190/pentagon-anthrax-lab-accident/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3899190/pentagon-anthrax-lab-accident/"},"headline":"Pentagon Accidentally Sends Live Anthrax to Multiple Labs","datePublished":"2015-05-27T23:49:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T07:41:04.994Z","description":"Officials say there is no risk to the public","url":"https://time.com/3899190/pentagon-anthrax-lab-accident/","keywords":["Infectious Disease","study","Pentagon","Mail"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a96ef0672beb1ad/698851f9e20a876280a8b902/anthra.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a96ef0672beb1ad/698851f9e20a876280a8b902/anthra.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"128627951","caption":"128627951","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-disease/","name":"Infectious Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3899190/pentagon-anthrax-lab-accident/","name":"Pentagon Accidentally Sends Live Anthrax to Multiple Labs"}}]}] ```