s, about 2 per cent, it persists in a chronic form and can cause inflammation of the heart valves and/or hepatitis. This chronic form is very difficult to cure.

Coxiella burnetii has previously been weaponized and is considered a potential terrorist threat.

The alleged lab accidents, along with related alleged violations of federal law, were recently reported by the Sunshine Project, an Austin, Texas, nonprofit group that monitors biodefense research safety. The group used Texas freedom-of-information requests to obtain documents about the lab incidents.

In April, the Sunshine Project reported that a Texas A&M researcher had been infected with Brucella after a February 2006 aerosol chamber mishap and that the school did not immediately notify the CDC as required by federal law.

Five days ago, the watchdog group reported that the exposure of three other Texas A&M workers to C burnetti, which causes Q fever, was confirmed in April 2006 but also was not reported to the CDC.

The Sunshine Project said its investigation of Texas A&M came about through its review of select-agent labs that are vying to host the federal government's planned new national biodefense facility, according to a report in the Dallas Morning News.

The laboratory is affiliated with the Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense Center, a US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) center of excellence that focuses on the study of foot-and-mouth disease, avian influenza, and Rift Valley fever, according to the center's Web site. The center is funded by an $18 million DHS grant, according to an Associated Press report yesterday.

According to the Sunshine Project, Texas A&M notified the CDC about the Brucella infection in April 2007, a year after the worker's illness was confirmed.

Shortly after Texas A&M reported the Brucella infection, representatives from the CDC's Se
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