Officials from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) reported Saturday that we found deadly microbes and substances in government laboratories that had been left behind, in some cases for almost a hundred years.
The substances were found as part of an effort that began after the accidental discovery in July of vials of smallpox at an NIH laboratory near Washington.
The new find found vials of ricin and the pathogens that cause botulism and a rare tropical infection.
Ricin, a very powerful toxin, turned up in a box of microbes believed to be between 85 and 100 years old.
The substances have already been destroyed, information from the NIH, which also said that some of its laboratories are authorized to use poisonous substances and are regularly audited.
But the recent discoveries were from historical collections that were lost unregulated, inappropriately, but NIH officials say they were in sealed containers and no employees were at risk of arrest.