{"id":97817,"date":"2023-11-16T23:47:48","date_gmt":"2023-11-17T05:47:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=97817"},"modified":"2023-11-16T23:47:48","modified_gmt":"2023-11-17T05:47:48","slug":"97817","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=97817","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

Pathogens Labeled \u2018HIV\u2019 and \u2018Ebola\u2019 Found Inside Secret, Illegal Chinese-Owned Biolab in California<\/a><\/p>\n

Thousands of vials of biological substances \u2014 including some labeled \u201cHIV\u201d \u2014 and a freezer marked \u201cEbola\u201d were found inside a secret\u00a0Chinese-owned biolab<\/a>\u00a0in California which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and FBI initially refused to investigate, according to a House committee report released Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The illegal lab was operated in the city of Reedley, Calif., and the potential public safety risk it posed only came to light in December 2022 when Jesalyn Harper, an observant code enforcement officer, noticed a green garden hose sticking out of a hole in the side of a warehouse that was thought to be vacant for more than a decade.<\/p>\n

Once inside, Harper discovered laboratory equipment, manufacturing devices, medical-grade freezers, lab mice and vials labeled in Mandarin, English and in a code that remains undeciphered.<\/p>\n

She also encountered several individuals in lab coats who identified themselves as Chinese nationals.<\/p>\n

\"Greeley<\/a><\/p>\n

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The hose sticking out of the hole thought to be a vacant warehouse tipped off a Greeley code enforcement officer.<\/figcaption>
AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\"Greeley7<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
Hundreds of tons of research equipment and freezers were found in the facility.<\/figcaption>
KSEE\/KGPE<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Harper\u2019s discovery kicked off a 9-month investigation by the city, which eventually roped in Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.), after being stonewalled by the CDC and FBI, to figure out what activities were taking place inside the illegal lab.<\/p>\n

In a 42-page report, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, which launched its own\u00a0investigation<\/a>\u00a0into the matter in September, detailed some of its shocking findings and the troubling questions raised by the presence of an apparent Chinese-owned research lab on US soil.<\/p>\n

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\u201cLocal officials spent months repeatedly trying to obtain assistance from the CDC,\u201d the report states, noting that \u201cthe CDC refused to speak with them and, on a number of occasions, it was reported by local officials that the CDC hung up on them mid-conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLocal officials were similarly unable to get any help from other federal agencies,\u201d congressional investigators found, including the FBI, which informed local officials that \u201cit had closed its investigation because the Bureau believed that there were no weapons of mass destruction on the property.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"Mice\"7<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
Lab mice were also found inside the biolab.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\"Greeley7<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
The CDC discovered at least 20-labeled vials presumed to contain potentially deadly pathogens.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With Costa\u2019s help, CDC officials finally showed up at the Greeley biolab and identified at least 20 potentially infectious agents, including several \u201cserious or lethal human diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the potentially infectious agents found by the agency include SARS-CoV-2, Chlamydia, HIV, E. coli, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Hepatitis B and C, Dengue virus, the Rubella virus and Malaria.<\/p>\n

The CDC, however, refused to test the samples or examine the unlabeled vials, even after city officials offered to pay for the testing.<\/p>\n

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\"Greeley7<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
The CDC refused to test the vials to verify the contents inside.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The report slams the CDC\u2019s initial reluctance to get involved and its refusal to test the vials as \u201cunacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

In July, under a court order, local officials contracted a hazardous waste firm to carry out the destruction of 140 tons of lab equipment and 440 gallons of medical and biological waste found at the site.<\/p>\n

During this process, a previously undetected freezer labeled \u201cEbola\u201d was found. The disease has a death rate between 25% to 90% once it is contracted.<\/p>\n

\u201cLocal officials and contractors reported that they found a freezer labeled \u2018Ebola\u2019 with silver sealed bags found inside consistent with how the Reedley Biolab operators stored sensitive biological and other materials,\u201d the report states, noting that the containers within the fridge were not expressly labeled \u201cEbola.\u201d<\/p>\n

Local officials notified the CDC about their find, and the agency responded by saying that it did not recall seeing the Ebola label.<\/p>\n

The fridge and the contents within it were destroyed, without being tested, according to the report.<\/p>\n

Photographs of the Ebola-labeled fridge do not exist, according to the report.<\/p>\n

The panel\u2019s investigation also uncovered a complex connection between the Reedley biolab owner and founder, Jiabei \u201cJesse\u201d Zhu, and the Chinese Communist Party.<\/p>\n

Zhu served as a corporate officer on Chinese military-civil fusion organizations and private organizations affiliated with the Chinese government.<\/p>\n

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\"Jia7<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
Zhu has been charged with fraud and making false statements.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Zhu entered the US illegally, through Canada, after being slapped with a $330 million Canadian court judgment in 2016 for running companies engaged in \u201cmassive theft of American cattle-related intellectual property,\u201d according to the report.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe court found that Zhu and his PRC co-conspirators made many disturbing statements as part of their plan. These include instances where Zhu, in response to a co-conspirator\u2019s reference to \u2018American imperialism,\u2019 replied that \u2018the law is strong, but the outlaws are ten times stronger.\u2019<\/p>\n

In another instance, Zhu claimed that his fraudulent activity would help \u2018defeat the American aggressor and wild ambitious wolf!\u2019\u201d the report states, citing private messages Zhu sent through the Chinese app WeChat.<\/p>\n

Once in the US, Zhu operated under the alias \u201cDavid He\u201d and began work on setting up a network of biotech companies, including the Greeley biolab.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo incorporate and administer many of these companies, Zhu turned to an accountant tied to entities associated with the CCP,\u201d House investigators found.<\/p>\n

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\"Greeley7<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
The House panel found that \u201cwith the exception of Ebola,\u201d the labeled vials of presumed pathogens found at the Greeley biolab are \u201cinconsistent with the operation of a bioweapons program.\u201d<\/figcaption>
Superior Court of the State of California<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The select committee found evidence indicating that Zhu and his associates at the Reedley biolab were purchasing counterfeit COVID-19, pregnancy, ovulation, and nutritional deficiency test kits from China and relabeling and reselling the fakes in the US as \u201cMade in the USA.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fraudulent scheme, however, did not require or explain the presence of the pathogens, equipment or freezers found in Zhu\u2019s lab, according to congressional investigators.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is little to no market for test kits that would test the majority of the pathogens that the Reedley Biolab appeared to contain, let alone test kits created in an unlicensed laboratory,\u201d the report notes.<\/p>\n

Zhu with subsequently charged with federal offenses relating to fraud and false statements in an FDA-led investigation, according to the report.<\/p>\n

The House panel found that \u201cwith the exception of Ebola,\u201d the labeled vials of presumed pathogens found at the Greeley biolab are \u201cinconsistent with the operation of a bioweapons program.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The report cautions, however, that \u201cthe public health risks posed by the lab are unknown and, at this point, unknowable.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cAt a minimum, the Reedley Biolab shows the profound threat that unlicensed and unknown biolabs pose to our country. At worst, this investigation revealed significant gaps in our nation\u2019s defenses and pathogen-related regulations that present a grave national security risk that could be exploited in the future,\u201d the report states. \u201cIt is therefore incumbent upon Congress and the Executive Branch to address these vulnerabilities now before it is too late.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pathogens Labeled \u2018HIV\u2019 and \u2018Ebola\u2019 Found Inside Secret, Illegal Chinese-Owned Biolab in California Thousands of vials of biological substances \u2014 including some labeled \u201cHIV\u201d \u2014 and a freezer marked \u201cEbola\u201d were found inside a secret\u00a0Chinese-owned biolab\u00a0in California which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and FBI initially refused to investigate, according to a House … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health-medicine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=97817"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97818,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97817\/revisions\/97818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=97817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=97817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=97817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}