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Magazine article
An illegal bioweapons lab was found in a Las Vegas garage. It’s a warning for Australia
The Conversation
11/02/2026
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Abstract
In Las Vegas last week, two people were admitted to hospital “deathly ill” after being exposed to “possible biological material, including refrigerators containing vials with unknown liquids” at a suburban home. Law enforcement quickly scrambled, taking down an illegal laboratory on the premises. But this wasn’t a meth lab. Instead, it was allegedly filled with thousands of deadly pathogens. The FBI has since opened an official investigation. It claims the Las Vegas lab is linked to another illegal lab in California that was shut down in 2023, which was investigated by US Congress. Congress found the California biolab had received millions of dollars from Chinese banks, and held more than 1,000 genetically modified mice as well as samples of diseases including HIV, malaria, COVID and even Ebola. The US is now asking how many of these labs might exist. In Australia, we can’t really answer that question either.
Details
- Title
- An illegal bioweapons lab was found in a Las Vegas garage. It’s a warning for Australia
- Creators
- Brendan Walker-Munro - Southern Cross University
- Publication Details
- The Conversation
- Publisher
- The Conversation Media Group Ltd
- Identifiers
- 991013351871702368
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Business, Law and Arts
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Magazine article