Jia Bei Zhu, a Chinese national, was charged Thursday with crimes related to an undercover bio-lab he was operating in California, which was found to contain a host of dangerous pathogens, including Covid-19.
In late July, the Chinese medical firm, Prestige Biotech, was found to be running a medical laboratory in Reedley, Calif., where thousands of mice were infected with diseases from HIV and E. Coli to malaria and Covid-19. The undercover research facility was discovered when a garden hose at the property was found to be illegally attached to the building.
Bei Zhu, 62, was charged with “manufacturing and distributing misbranded medical devices” after authorities determined that he was selling Covid-19 test kits witout receiving authorization from the FDA.
“According to court documents, between December 2020 and March 2023, Zhu and others manufactured, imported, sold, and distributed hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 test kits, in addition to test kits for HIV, pregnancy, clinical urinalysis, and other conditions in the United States and China,” the Eastern District of California said in a press release.
Zhu worked out of an unlicensed lab in Reedley, Calif. owned by Prestige Biotech Inc., a successor to a defunct Chinese biotech firm.
“There was a special room that was built housing about 1,000 white lab mice,” a city manager, Nicole Zieba, told a local news outlet following the initial discovery. “This is an unusual situation. I’ve been in government for 25 years. I’ve never seen anything like this,” she added. According to the official, at least 200 mice were found dead. The remainder were euthanized by the county.
Prestige Biotech was the largest creditor of the now-defunct company, Universal Meditech, and took control of it following bankruptcy. The Chinese-run company did not have a license to operate in California. Wang Zhaolin, a spokesman for Prestige Biotech, told the San Joaquin Valley Sun following the revelation that the mice “were genetically engineered to catch and carry the Covid-19 virus.”
Court documents further showed that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) conducted tests on the more than 800 chemicals found at the site and that over 20 infectious agents were found present, including Hepatitis B and C, streptococcus pneumonia, chlamydia, rubella, and Herpes 1 and 5. “Certain rooms of the warehouse were found to contain several vessels of liquid and various apparatus,” the document reads. “Fresno County Public Health staff also observed blood, tissue and other bodily fluid samples and serums; and thousands of vials of unlabeled fluids and suspected biological material.”
“I’ve been with the department for 30 years, and I don’t recall a similar situation,” Fresno public-health official David Luchini told another local newspaper.
The press release also accused Zhu of making false statements to the FDA, particularly when it came to the production of off-market Coronavirus test kits. “Consumers who unknowingly use these misbranded COVID tests run the risk of incorrect results about their COVID status, which can lead to further spread of the virus,” said special agent Robert M. Iwanicki, a member of the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations Los Angeles Field Office. “We will continue to investigate and bring to justice those who jeopardize the health of U.S. consumers.”