Gansu informs Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute of brucellosis incident: vaccine production using expired disinfectant, one person has symptoms

On December 26, the official website of Gansu Provincial Health Commission released a briefing on the investigation and disposition of the Brucella antibody-positive incident at the Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences:

I. Summary of the incident

On November 28, 2019, two students of the Foot and Mouth Disease Prevention and Control Technology Team of the Lanzhou Institute of Veterinary Research of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (hereinafter referred to as Lanzhou Institute of Veterinary Research) tested positive for Brucella antibodies.The number of Brucella antibody-positive people in the team increased to four people on November 29, and then the students of the team collectively carried out Brucella antibody tests, and antibody-positive people were detected one after another, which led to the entire student body's Worried, many students went to the hospital or CDC on their own for brucella antibody testing.

As of 16:00 on December 25, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute students and staff serum Brucella antibody screening test cumulative total of 671 copies, laboratory review test confirmed antibody-positive personnel cumulative total of 181 cases. Except for one antibody-positive person who showed clinical symptoms, the rest of them had no clinical symptoms and no morbidity.

Second, the work carried out

After the occurrence of Brucella antibody-positive event in Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Gansu Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government attached great importance to it, Secretary Lin Duo and Governor Tang Renjian made instructions and requirements for many times, Secretary Lin Duo made arrangements and deployments in the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee for two times, Governor Tang Renjian convened a meeting to conduct a special study, and the Provincial Government set up a disposal coordination leading group with the vice governor in charge of health and agricultural and rural work as the double leader and relevant departments as the member units. Coordination leading group, set up six special working groups, through the meeting of the research and judgment, on-site guidance, comprehensive scheduling, all efforts to carry out traceability investigations, testing and diagnosis, epidemiological investigations, popularization and publicity, responding to social concerns and other work, and closed all the laboratories of Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute to stop the relevant experimental activities. The Provincial Health Commission opened green channels in medical institutions above the second level in Lanzhou City to provide standardized treatment for antibody-positive people in need of treatment. The National Health and Health Commission and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development gave timely and strong guidance, sending more than 40 experts to Lanzhou, and forming an investigation team with provincial and municipal experts to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the incident, and guiding the work of epidemiological investigation, laboratory testing, medical observation, psychological counseling and source tracing.

Third, the investigation process and results

The investigation group, mainly composed of national, provincial and municipal experts, conducted a comprehensive investigation into the implementation of the biosafety management system, the operation and maintenance of facilities and equipment, and bacteriophage, the collection, use, preservation and destruction of experimental samples, as well as Brucella-related scientific research and production of Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute and the adjacent Sinomusic Lanzhou Biopharmaceutical Plant, and conducted a comprehensive investigation into the experimental building of Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, the experimental animals, the staff canteen, and the enrollment of postgraduates since 2016 The expert group conducted a comprehensive investigation on the laboratory building, experimental animals, staff canteen, serum specimens retained at the time of enrollment of graduate students since 2016, as well as the environment of the surrounding areas of the Lanzhou Biopharmaceutical Factory of China National Bio-Pharmaceutical Factory and relevant personnel.

Comprehensive investigation and testing results, the expert group believes that: from July 24 to August 20, 2019, the Chinese animal husbandry Lanzhou Biopharmaceutical Factory used expired disinfectant in the production process of veterinary Brucella vaccine, resulting in the production of fermentation tank exhaust emissions sterilization is incomplete, carrying bacteria-containing fermentation liquid waste gas formation of bacteria-containing aerosols, the main wind direction of the region during the production period for the southeasterly wind, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute in the downwind direction of the Chinese animal husbandry Lanzhou Biopharmaceutical Factory, human inhalation and inhaling of the serum specimens, the environment around the laboratory animals, staff food, and relevant personnel. During the production period, the main wind direction in the area was southeast, and Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute was in the downwind direction of Sinomu Lanzhou Biopharmaceutical Factory. This incident was an accidental incident, an exposure that occurred within a short period of time. The Brucella vaccine production plant at Sinomu Lanzhou Biopharmaceutical Factory, which caused the incident, ceased production on December 7, 2019.

Since December, antibody positivity has been detected one after another among students and staff of Lanzhou University, and a total of 3365 people have been tested, with 22 brucella antibody positives detected, a positive rate of 0.65%, and after epidemiological investigations, six of them had been active in Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute in July this year, and the rest of the detected positives were in line with the trend of the prevalence of brucellosis in Chengguan District of Lanzhou City.