30 May 2015, 16:42 GMT
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – According to the unnamed Pentagon officials, a Utah US Army lab shipped the samples, thinking they were inactive, for research purposes, the media outlet reported Monday evening.
On Wednesday, Washington said it was investigating into the anthrax samples shipment to laboratories in eleven US states, Australia and South Korea.
US Department of Defense (DoD) spokesperson Col. Steven Warren told Sputnik in a statement Wednesday that the DoD used the anthrax samples to develop a field-based test to "identify biological threats in the environment."
Anthrax is a disease caused by Bacillus anthracis bacteria. Most forms of the anthrax disease are lethal. Some forms of the anthrax respond well to antibiotic treatment and effective vaccines against anthrax have been elaborated.
