Canadian food inspection reseachers charged over bid to ship germs to China

Canadian federal police have charged two former government scientists with trafficking in dangerous and highly contagious germs.

Klaus Nielsen and Wei Ling Yu, former researchers at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), are accused of attempting to export harmful pathogens that could infect humans and livestock to China.

Nielsen was apprehended as he was heading to Ottawa airport last October with 17 vials of live brucella bacteria, which can cause infections of bovine reproductive organs, joints and mammary glands, as well as infertility.

It mostly affects cattle, deer and horses, but can also be passed on to humans and cause flu-like symptoms. There is no vaccine and the only way to control its spread is to cull animals suspected of being infected.

Nielsen was reportedly praised in 2006 for helping to develop a quick test for detecting brucellosis in cattle.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said on Wednesday that Nielsen and Yu were allegedly making "unlawful efforts to commercialise [the] intellectual property belonging to the CFIA and a private commercial partner". US company Diachemix manufactures and licenses the test.