Mandatory international inspections could keep US labs in check, Russia suggested An international treaty banning bioweapons needs to be strengthened with a compliance verification mechanism, contrary to the US position on the issue, Moscow said.
we go inside one of the labs in south africa, where omicron was first discovered, and researchers are now working around the clock to learn more about it. cbs s debora patta reports from durbin, south africa. reporter: suiting up in protective gear, scientists are heading into the biohazard lab of the africa health research institute growing live omicron to be tested against the blood of fully immunized people as well as those previously infectioused. heading up the team is alex sigal. this is probably the most mutated virus we d ever seen. reporter: the variant has more than 50 mutations is over 30 in the spike protein, the part of the virus that aids infection. it s more of a franken stein than others but it s always something new. the virus keeps surprising us. within 36 hours of discovering the new variant, these scientists had alerted the
by international agreement, samples lived on in only two labs. the cdc in atlanta and one in siberia, or so we thought. law enforcement have long feared what could happen if terrorists get their hands on smallpox and turned it into a weapon. the newly discovered vials are now in a level 4 biohazard lab. security is so tight, you now need an eye scan to get access. the smallpox discovery comes just weeks after the cdc acknowledged possibly exposing dozens of lab workers to anthrax. those workers currently being treated with two months of antibiotics. the good news is the vials were not opened so no one was endangered. if the virus had gotten out. we have a smallpox vaccine that would have protected anyone that was exposed. dr. richard besser, abc news, new york. that certainly is good news right there. incredible. how did it happen, though? it s like everyone has a junk drawer, a junk closet. what do you do, oops, put it over there on that shelf? somebody right now is watching thi