Written by by Steve Ispas, Lear Zhou at theepochtimes.com
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REEDLEY, Calif.—It was as simple as flipping a switch, but doing so could have catastrophic consequences.
Jesalyn Harper, a City of Reedley code enforcement officer, had to determine whether to turn off the power to a secret Chinese biolab in
California in order to prevent a fire that inspectors had said was a risk.
But with the power off, the freezers’ contents would thaw, with potentially dangerous consequences. The biolab was full of thousands of vials of possible infectious pathogens.
She called the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for advice.
“It was a very short-lived and frustrating phone call that ended with them hanging up,” said Ms. Harper.
She left the power on.
That was in March 2023, months after Ms. Harper had first discovered the biolab in December 2022 and alerted authorities.
Ms. Harper found inside what was supposed to be an unoccupied warehouse, thousands of vials of potentially infectious agents, including ones labeled as coronavirus, chlamydia, E. coli, streptococcus pneumonia, HIV, hepatitis, herpes, rubella, and malaria. A freezer was labeled “Ebola” and about 1,000 lab mice were kept for experimentation.