Illegal Chinese-owned biolab in California busted with pathogens labeled ‘HIV’ and ‘Ebola’

The illegal lab was operational in California and the risks posed by it, were discovered in December 2022 by an officer named Jesalyn Harper.

An illegal Chinese-owned biolab in California was found storing thousands of vials of biological substances including some labeled “HIV” and a freezer marked “Ebola”, according to a House committee report released on Wednesday.

Representational picture (Shutterstock)

The illegal lab was operational in Reedley, California and the risks posed by it, were discovered in December 2022 by an observant code enforcement officer named Jesalyn Harper. Interestingly, the warehouse in which the lab was functioning from was thought to be vacant for more than a decade. Harper became suspicious after she saw a green pipe sticking out of a hole in the side of the warehouse.

Inside the lab, Harper found laboratory equipment, medical-grade freezers, lab mice and vials which were labeled in Mandarin, English and in a code that is yet to be deciphered. She also met several individuals wearing lab coats who identified themselves as Chinese nationals.

Harper's discovery alarmed city officials who started an investigation. According to the House committee report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and FBI initially refused to investigate the matter. The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party launched its own investigation in September and came up with a 42-page report.

“Local officials spent months repeatedly trying to obtain assistance from the CDC,” highlights the report.

The report also notes “the 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.”

“Local officials were similarly unable to get any help from other federal agencies,” congressional investigators found. As per the report, FBI informed local officials that “it had closed its investigation because the Bureau believed that there were no weapons of mass destruction on the property.”

Later, the House panel found that with the exception of Ebola, the labeled vials of presumed pathogens found at the Greeley biolab are “inconsistent with the operation of a bioweapons program.”

The Reedley bio-labs owner and founder was identified as Jia Bei Jesse Zhu.