Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, plans to lead an April 4 hearing into national anthrax testing policies.
On Friday, military representatives said the Pentagon was making "substantial improvements," including requiring contract labs to report test results in 24 hours.
In the recent incident, Commonwealth Biotechnologies Inc. reported the result of its March 10 test the next day, a Friday, to prime contractor Vistronix Inc. of McLean. Senior defense officials said they took immediate action, including contacting emergency responders, upon learning of the results Monday, March 14.
"Clearly a sample was taken to their lab Thursday," one federal official said. "Especially over a weekend, it apparently can take much more than 24 hours, maybe three days."
Timing is critical because scientists believe that healthy people exposed to anthrax bacteria can die in seven days, another federal official said. If a letter had been the source of the anthrax found in the sample, it could have been mailed March 4, given the time it takes mail to move through the postal system and reach the Pentagon, the official said.
The review group also reached preliminary agreement that government agencies should rely on the CDC's bioterrorism Laboratory Response Network, which includes 140 specially certified labs, to test for such incidents instead of contract facilities, two officials said. The review group also agreed that federal agencies should coordinate with state and local public health agencies before ordering antibiotic treatment solely for federal employees.
Pentagon officials included a representative of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Army Col. Armondo Lopez, head of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency's chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear directorate.
Spokesmen with the Pentagon's public affairs office did not return e-mail and telephone requests for comment.
