March 2009 Idaho Observer
The Canadian Press reported on February 27, 2009, that Illinois-based pharmaceutical company Baxter International released “contaminated flu virus material” from its plant in Ortho-Donau, Austria, to another Austrian firm, Avir Green Hills Biotechnology, which then sent the now-contaminated vaccine product to sub-contractors in the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Germany. The vaccine in question contained a mix of H3N2 and live H5N1 (current avian flu strain) viruses. The contamination was discovered when the subcontractor in the Czech Republic inoculated ferrets with the product and they all died. Since ferrets should not have died from injections containing H3N2 viruses, the product was tested and the contamination was discovered. Baxter claims the contamination was accidental.