- WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A shipment of 200,000 doses of anthrax vaccine destined
for U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf was stopped because it apparently had
frozen during shipment, destroying its effectiveness, CNN has learned.
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- At $3.50 per dose, the shipment is valued
at some $700,000, defense officials said. It is not clear when the temperature
change took place.
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- The problem was discovered about two
weeks ago. Another shipment of 200,000 doses was sent shortly thereafter
to replace the damaged batch, so the inoculation of troops in the Gulf
could take place on chedule, to protect them against the potentially lethal
germ-warfare agent.
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- The first in a series of shots is to
be administered to troops next week.
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- Officials, speaking on the condition
they not be named, said the vaccines were shipped from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania,
to Germany en route to the Middle East. In Germany, someone noticed that
at least one of the 20,000 vials had suffered a radical temperature change,
apparently freezing and rendering the doses useless.
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- Army Surgeon Lt. Gen. Ronald Blanck sent
specialists to Germany to examine the shipment to see if any of it could
be salvaged. The results of their examination are not yet available, the
officials said.
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- CNN Military Affairs Producer Chris Plante
contributed to this report.
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