NEWARK -- Three mice infected with the bacteria responsible for bubonic plague apparently disappeared from a laboratory about two weeks ago, and authorities launched a search although health specialists said there was scant public risk.
The mice were unaccounted for at the Public Health Research Institute, which is on the campus of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and conducts bioterrorism research for the federal government.
Federal officials said the mice may never be accounted for. Among other scenarios, the rodents may have been stolen, eaten by other lab animals, or misplaced because of a paperwork error.
