An unprecedented sweep of government labs across the nation has turned up unexpected results. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) both announced the discovery of at least six improperly stored substances, in addition to the July discovery of smallpox and mishandling of anthrax, among other infectious agents. On Friday, the NIH announced that the search of their Bethesda campus had resulted in five different misplaced biological agents between July 29 and August 27.

These biological agents, known as “select agents”, are required to be stored in specially secured facilities as per government mandates, due to the high risk they pose to human health. The five misplaced agents were, however, found in vials amongst collections of samples dating back decades, in regular labs.

According to Alfred Johnson, director of the NIH’s Office of Research Services, three of the five agents were found at the NIH Clinical Center’s Department of Medicine, which is home to a plethora of microbial samples dating back to the 1950s. Two vials were found of the plague-causing bacteria, which has historically claimed the lives of millions in various pandemics. The CDC noted that the bacteria is now limited to areas in sub-Saharan Africa.

Additionally, the search turned up two vials of Burholderia pseudomallei, a bacterium that causes the tropical disease melioidosis or Whitemore’s Disease, symptomized by chest and joint pain, skin infections and fever. Three vials were also found of the bacterium Francisella tularensis, causing the rare but deadly tularemia (commonly known as rabbit fever). A vial of the poisonous agent ricin, a past bioterrorism agent, and two vials of botulinum toxin, which causes the muscle-paralysis-inducing botulism disease were also discovered in the search.

“These things were stored in locations where they should not have been stored,” said Johnson. “At the same time, NIH is a facility that routinely conducts research on the most dangerous materials out there. All of these were found in containers that were intact, and there have been no exposures. It reminds us, just like my garage at home, that from time to time, we need to check,” he added

Similarly, the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition reported the discovery of vials of staphylococcal enterotoxin at a lab unauthorized to handle it. The discoveries have prompted investigations into how the vials, dating back to 1954 were found in FDA lab storage facilities. Both the NIH and the FDA reported the findings to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), noting that no employees were harmed or endangered.

The FDA discovery was made on July 15, with the agency only notifying its employees and the public as of Friday. The FDA maintained, however, that Agency officials did not learn of the discoveries until August 4. “Importantly . . . there have been no other improperly stored hazardous materials identified in the FDA-wide inventory,” wrote Stephen Ostroff, the FDA’s acting Chief Scientist to employees in an e-mail.