Congressional report reveals new details about Chinese-run California lab full of genetically engineered mice and viruses and slams the CDC for REFUSING to investigate

A scathing report out of Congress sheds light on new details about a convicted criminal from China who ran an unlicensed lab in California stockpiling dangerous pathogens. 

The 43-page report was produced by a Republican-controlled House of Representatives committee on US relations with China and specifically faults the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for failing to test the biological materials discovered in refrigerators and freezers at the site in Reedley, California.

The document paints a picture of fraud and conspiracy between a biologist working under a fake name and the Chinese communist party to violate American laws around intellectual property.

The report follows an extensive investigation into the origins of the lab and the local and federal governments’ responses to its discovery.

It also provides a fuller picture of the risky ways in which the owner of the lab procured a wide array of dangerous diseases RANGING from Ebola, to malaria, to Covid, which DailyMail.com has reported on extensively.

The owner of the Prestige Biolab, previously Universal Meditech, took on the false identity of David He after illegally entering the US. The man’s true name is Jiabei ‘Jesse’ Zhu, a Chinese citizen

Mr Zhu has claimed he was merely a ‘special representative’ for the company that preceded the one running the lab in Reedley. But employees have stated Zhu is the ‘main man’ and ‘owner’ who actually controls the UMI/Prestige Biotech operations at the Reedley Biolab

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party launched its investigation into the clandestine lab last spring, soon after a Reedley code enforcement officer noticed a garden hose sticking out of a building where it should not have been.

The lucky catch thrust into motion a combined state, local, and federal probe in March, which found a small room containing nearly 1,000 white mice crowded into storage containers under bright lights 24 hours a day, seven days a week in an airless room on perpetually dirty bedding. When investigators found them, hundreds were already dead.

A wide array of vials were also discovered containing biomaterials, including blood and tissue, as well as many other unlabeled chemicals.

Some vials were found to contain chlamydia, E. Coli, streptococcus pneumonia, hepatitis B and C, herpes 1 and 5, rubella and malaria. 

Nearly 1,000 mistreated and malnourished white lab mice were discovered at the facility in subpar conditions. About 200 of them were already dead. The rest have been humanely euthanized by a veterinarian

Several of the 32 freezers containing biological materials and dangerous pathogens that were found were malfunctioning, as power had been cut to the building

Among hundreds of vials of infectious viruses and bacteria, many of which were stored improperly in shoddy freezers, were samples of malaria, shown here, alongside Chinese characters. Other infectious agents found included strains of the herpes virus, the bacterium that causes meningitis, chlamydia, Covid-19, and HIV

It appears the biological waste produced at the site was discarded in such a way that violated the safe removal protocols required in the state Medical Waste Management Act.

The owner of the Prestige Biolab, previously Universal Meditech, took on the false identity of David He after illegally entering the US when he was issued an arrest warrant in Canada where he remains a wanted fugitive facing a $330 million judgment for stealing American intellectual property.

The man’s true name is Jiabei ‘Jesse’ Zhu, a Chinese citizen who was ‘part of an ongoing transnational criminal enterprise with ties to the [People’s Republic of China].’

The report also stated Zhu and his associates at the Reedley lab had purchased counterfeit pregnancy and Covid test kits from China and re-sold them in the US with the label ‘Made in the USA.’ The Food and Drug Administration later issued a recall on these tests.

The committee took special aim at the CDC for its ‘baffling refusal’ to test the samples found in the lab to determine if the labels on them were correct. The CDC also did not test the unlabeled samples.

The report said: ‘Local officials informed the CDC about their concerns. The CDC continued to refuse to test any samples.

‘According to local officials, they also asked if the CDC could at least test a random sample of the pathogens. The CDC still refused.

‘Despite their limited local budget, local officials then offered to pay the CDC for the entirety of the cost of testing these samples. The CDC still did not and left the site.’

The committee’s document also said local officials reported the CDC hung up on them mid-conversation. 

Now that the report is out, lawmakers, including Congressman Jim Costa who represents the district where Reedley is located, are pushing for legislation that would prevent illicit biolabs from operating under the radar in the future.

In May, when staff from the CDC joined the local government’s investigation with an in-person inspection, they found hundreds of vials of infectious viruses and bacteria in the lab. 

County officials were skeptical from the start about Mr He’s legitimate affiliation with Prestige Biotech, noting he provided no satisfactory documentation to the county’s public health department that he was an authorized agent of the firm or its predecessor, UMI. 

A Fresno county employee said last spring: ‘Mr He’s purported lack of knowledge of infectious agents on the Property raises serious concerns with the lack of safety protocols and direction offered by Prestige Biotech and other business entities handling of these infectious agents as a serious threat to public health and safety.’