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ttp://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2016/10/116_215423.html
Posted : 2016-10-05 16:41
Updated : 2016-10-05 21:14
Pasteur Institute breaches MERS biosecurity rule
By Jung Min-ho
The Institut Pasteur Korea (IPK) committed serious biosecurity breaches, which could have resulted in the loss of many lives, and tried to cover it up, according to evidence obtained by The Korea Times.
An IPK virologist transported samples of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus to the Institut Pasteur in Paris on Oct. 11, 2015, without alerting the health authorities of any country.
Her actions, including transporting the hazardous materials in the cabin of a commercial airplane, are not only a violation of the U.N.'s Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) but also a violation of French laws on infectious disease control.
Christian Brechot, president of the Institut Pasteur that has 33 research institutions worldwide, was apparently aware of the incident. In his email to the virologist, he said, "You failed to alert both Korean and France authorities about transporting them on a commercial plane risking many lives."
Referring to evidence of surveillance camera footage, which shows the virologist taking the samples from an IPK lab without following proper procedures, Brechot also noted, "The p3 security movie is very compelling against you ?? the situation on the MERS cover-up investigation is not good for you or myself," proposing her to "start fresh" in Paris.
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Source: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/...ht-seoul-paris
Pasteur Institutes acknowledge unauthorized import of MERS samples on a flight from Seoul to Paris
By Tania RabesandratanaOct. 24, 2016 , 1:00 PM
A researcher from the Pasteur Institute Korea (IPK) in Seoul brought samples taken during the country's outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) on an intercontinental flight last year without the appropriate paperwork, hoping to get them studied at the Pasteur Institute (IP) in Paris. Both institutes have acknowledged the incident, which IP says was a breach in French biosafety protocol. But both say the trip never put anyone in danger, because the samples had undergone a treatment that would have killed any living virus.
The story was first reported earlier this month by English-speaking newspaper The Korea Times, which wrote that a researcher from IPK had transported samples containing the MERS virus on a Korean Air flight from Seoul to Paris on 11 October 2015?a few months after a MERS epidemic outbreak that sickened 186 people and killed 38 in South Korea. IPK ?committed serious biosecurity breaches, which could have resulted in the loss of many lives, and tried to cover it up,? the newspaper alleged...
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