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Illegal Chinese-run lab with COVID, HIV and hepatitis samples shut down in California

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found a facility with twenty potentially infectious agents and more than 900 white mice.

covid chino

(Eric Lin / )

Published by
Rosana Rábago Sainz

China's power in the nation continues to spread and concern citizens. In Fresno County, Calif., law enforcement officers shut down an illegal laboratory run by the Chinese.

In the building, which was believed to be abandoned, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found twenty potentially infectious agents, including samples of coronavirus, HIV, herpes and hepatitis, as well as more than 900 white laboratory mice. They also found tests for COVID-19 and pregnancy tests.

The building, NBC reported, was leased to Prestige BioTech, a company that also owns other facilities owned by Chinese national Xiuquin Yao. He claimed that the dismantled facilities were, in reality, "either empty offices or addresses in China that could not be verified." However, Midvalley Times journalist Darren Fraser points out that illegal activities have been taking place in the building for almost a year, starting in October 2022.

Months of investigation to shut down the laboratory

However, the investigation did not begin until March of this year. At that time, Reedley, Calif., officials called the CDC, the FBI, the State Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), the State Department of Health, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the Fresno County Department of Public Health (FCDPH). The search warrant arrived on March 16, and authorities, the Midvalley Times reports, was not long in executing it:

Reedley officials and personnel from CDPH and FCDPH executed a warrant on March 16 to inspect the warehouse at 850 I Street. According to a declaration from Humero Prado, Assistant Director of Fresno County Public Health, which was filed in superior court, investigators discovered that one room of the warehouse was used to produce COVID-19 and pregnancy tests. In other rooms, investigators found blood, tissue and other bodily fluid samples. They also found thousands of vials that contained unlabeled fluids.

Infectious agents were not the only thing they found. They also found about 900 mice that the scientists had been experimenting with and had genetically modified. The rodents, engineered to contract and spread diseases, were found in "inhumane" conditions. In fact, they all died either because they had to be killed (773) or because they were already dead (178) when they were found.

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