Over the summer, a local code enforcement officer in Reedley, California, stumbled upon an illegal Chinese biolab operating out of what was thought to be an abandoned warehouse. She noticed a garden hose sticking out of the side of the building, an immediate red flag. Upon investigating, local authorities said they had never seen anything like it. A thousand bioengineered mice, dozens of freezers and refrigerators stocked with infectious agents and more than 800 types of chemicals.
The shocking discovery led to a nine-month investigation by the city, but in September, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party kicked off an investigation of its own. Those efforts culminated in a report published this week about the biolab, detailing some of the troubling findings in the warehouse and the federal government’s alarming response.
After the initial review of the facility, local officials reached out to federal authorities for assistance but no help was forthcoming. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention refused to speak with local officials and on a number of occasions even hung up on them mid-conversation, the report states.
“Local officials were similarly unable to get any help from other federal agencies,” the congressional report found, including from the FBI, which told local officials “it had closed its investigation because the Bureau believed that there were no weapons of mass destruction on the property.”
And, there are vials whose contents are STILL unknown bc they were labeled in a code that we haven't deciphered. pic.twitter.com/U5oNN9vdok
— Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) November 16, 2023
It was only when local officials reached out to their member of Congress, Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA), that the CDC responded to the requests from local officials.
The federal agency identified at least 20 potentially infectious agents, including SARS-CoV-2, Chlamydia, HIV, E. coli, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Hepatitis B and C, Dengue virus, the Rubella virus and Malaria. CDC would not test unmarked vials, however, even though the city offered to pay. One freezer marked “Ebola” was discovered during the abatement process with silver sealed bags inside, “consistent with how the Reedley Biolab operators stored sensitive biological and other materials." But even when this was brought to the CDC’s attentions, no meaningful action was taken.
"The CDC's refusal to test any samples is ... baffling," the report said. "Despite the CDC official’s statement to City Manager Zieba, there does not appear to be any law prohibiting the CDC from testing unlabeled samples."
And, there are vials whose contents are STILL unknown bc they were labeled in a code that we haven't deciphered. pic.twitter.com/U5oNN9vdok
— Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) November 16, 2023
While Jia Bei Zhu, the man linked to the operation, was arrested on federal charges last month, the select committee said the work to address this potential problem is not over.
"Congress should examine the state of biosafety in our country, and act to identify and remedy gaps in relevant statute or practice," urged lawmakers.