Its unlikely it was bouncing around for long. Both NIH and CDC have long standing, and rehearsed, plans for the discovery of select agents and toxins, including dealing with sample discovery in less-than-appropriate containment. I work with a few select agents and while there's a ton of bureaucracy around it (Forms in not just triplicate but quadruplicate), that bureaucracy is both for the safety of everyone and for quick reaction to hazards. For examples, every log for our BSL-3's is reviewed within a few hours of modification. If a question comes up, users have 4 hours to respond to them. If they fail to do so certain containment procedures go into effect.

The entirety of the discovery, initial testing and planning phase likely took less than 2 days. If there's one thing either organization doesn't fucked with, it is select agents and toxins.