North Korean Solider Who Defected To South Korea This Year Was Found To Have Been Vaccinated Against Anthrax

Danger: The unidentified soldier, who may be the man who defected in November, would have been either exposed to or vaccinated against anthrax before he defected to South Korea

IBTimes: Defected North Korean Solider Had Anthrax Antibodies: Report

One of the four North Korean soldiers who defected to South Korea this year was found to have antibodies to anthrax, a bacteria that can be used as a biological weapon, according to South Korean television station Channel A Tuesday.

“Anthrax antibodies have been found in the North Korean soldier who defected this year,” said a South Korean intelligence official, who spoke to the station anonymously.

Having anthrax antibodies indicates that the soldier was either immunized against the bacteria or possibly exposed to it. The official did not indicate which of the four soldiers had the antibodies in his system.

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Update #1: Report: North Korea soldier found to have anthrax antibodies (UPI)
Update #2: North Korean soldier who defected to the South is found to have ANTHRAX antibodies in his bloodstream after a report warned Kim is testing warheads loaded with the deadly disease (Daily Mail)

WNU Editor: Talk about raising red flags on North Korea's WMD program.

Pentagon's Anthrax Scandal Continues To Grow

CNN: Pentagon: 51 labs in 17 states with questionable anthrax

Washington (CNN)The Pentagon may have unintentionally shipped live anthrax samples to 51 labs in 17 states and the District of Columbia, as well as three foreign countries, Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work announced Wednesday.

Work said he expects the numbers of labs suspected of receiving live anthrax to go up as the Pentagon continues its investigation into the shipments, some of them made via FedEx. When put in the mail, the samples were not believed to contain live samples of the disease.

There have been "no suspected or confirmed cases of anthrax infections" as a result of the shipments, Work said, explaining that the samples that were sent out had very low concentrations of the deadly disease, which could not infect the "average healthy individual."

"We know of no risk to the general public from these samples," Work emphasized.

WNU Editor: Will anyone get fired?

More News On The Pentagon's Anthrax Scandal

Report on the Pentagon's anthrax Scandal -- US Department of Defense
Dozens of Labs Received Potentially Live Anthrax Shipments, Officials Say -- NBC
Number of live anthrax shipments to labs expands, officials say -- USA Today
More mistaken anthrax shipments than first reported: US military -- AFP
Officials say anthrax not properly killed in Army lab was sent to dozens of locations -- AP
Pentagon: Live anthrax possibly shipped to at least 17 states and D.C. -- CBS
US anthrax scare widens to 51 labs in 17 states -- BBC
Live anthrax sent to 51 labs in 17 states and 3 nations – Pentagon -- RT

The 2001 Anthrax Investigation Is Now Closed

Electron microscopes reveal sand inside the outer covering of the 2001 bioterror attack spores, showing they weren't "weaponized." Sandia National Laboratory

F.B.I., Laying Out Evidence, Closes Anthrax Letters Case -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — More than eight years after anthrax-laced letters killed five people and terrorized the country, the F.B.I. on Friday closed its investigation, adding eerie new details to its case that the 2001 attacks were carried out by Bruce E. Ivins, an Army biodefense expert who killed himself in 2008.

A 92-page report, which concludes what by many measures is the largest investigation in F.B.I. history, laid out the evidence against Dr. Ivins, including his equivocal answers when asked by a friend in a recorded conversation about whether he was the anthrax mailer.

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My Comment: The full FBI report is here.

More News On The FBI Investigation Of The Anthrax Attacks

Anthrax investigators looked at 1,000 suspects -- Reuters
Anthrax myth persists despite evidence -- USA Today
U.S. Closes Case in Anthrax Attacks -- Wall Street Journal
FBI investigation of 2001 anthrax attacks concluded; U.S. releases details -- Washington Post
Anthrax Investigation Closed -- Baltimore Sun
FBI closes 2001 anthrax murder case -- USA Today
US formally concludes 2001 anthrax attacks probe -- AFP
U.S. Concludes Scientist Was Behind Anthrax Attacks -- Business Week/Bloomberg