Staff Report
A rabbit used for research at the Health Sciences Center died of anthrax last week.
UNM, the state Department of Health and the Center for Disease Control are investigating how the animal got the disease, said Sam Giammo, spokesman for the Health Sciences Center.
"There's no threat to anybody outside the lab whatsoever, and any actions that have been taken are just a precaution," he said.
Twenty-two researchers who may have been exposed to the animal were given antibiotics, but they show no signs of the disease, Giammo said.
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Twenty of the researchers were from UNM, he said. Two veterinarians with the state Department of Agriculture were treated after they conducted an autopsy on the animal, he said.
"Nobody has been sick," he said. "Nobody has shown any symptoms of illness."
Other animals in the lab were checked for the disease, but the rabbit that died is the only one that had it, he said.
The type of anthrax the rabbit died from is common, he said.
"The anthrax that it was exposed to is the same type and grade found in the soil," he said.
This is the second time this month a potentially dangerous substance was discovered at North Campus.
On Nov. 7, routine water tests at UNM Hospital discovered small amounts of legionella pneumophila, a bacterium that can lead to Legionnaire's
Disease.
Two of 32 randomly selected faucets had traces of the bacteria, Giammo said.
No one at the hospital got sick, and there was little risk of contracting the disease, he said.
Giammo said the faucets were flushed and water temperatures adjusted to ensure the bacterium was removed from the system.
