Deadly Virus Goes Missing From University of Texas Medical Branch Lab

A vial containing a potentially deadly virus went missing from a sealed freezer at the University of Texas Medical Branch Monday.

The vial contained less than a quarter of a teaspoon of what is called Guanarito-a virus from Venezuela that causes hemorrhagic fever and is transmitted by rats, according to a message released by David Callender, President of the University of Texas Medical Branch.

The area in Venezuela where the virus is found is limited, Callender said, and does not pose any kind of real threat in the United States; officials said the virus is not capable of living in rodents here.

Rumors have been circling that the virus is dangerous enough to be used against terrorists as a weapon, but this detail has yet to be confirmed.

Officials have a hunch that the vial might have disappeared during lab cleaning, but aren't sure of this fact just yet either. According to officials, this is the first time anything of this nature has been lost at the lab, and there was no breach in the facility's security. They said there is no indication of wrongdoing or horseplay.

"The Center for Disease Control and Prevention was notified immediately, and University of Texas Medical Branch simultaneously began a rigorous process to ensure the safety of its researchers, employees and the community," Callender said.

Officials are downplaying the severity of the situation, no doubt in efforts to assuage public nerves. Still, the prospect of a hemorrhaging, foreign sickness plagues some: in a recent MSN article titled, "Everyone's All 'Pffft, No Big Deal' About Missing Vial Of Deadly Virus," the author writes, "At the risk of sounding like alarmist fearmongers, we suggest that you start panicking now," with harangued predictions of an imminent zombie invasion. "Don't say we didn't warn you," they conclude.