Possible Impact
TB Fanatic
As many as a dozen scientists may have been exposed to the Ebola virus at a lab
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, agency officials said
Wednesday.
By Lena H. Sun December 24 at 4:03 PM Follow @bylenasun
http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...l?Post+generic=?tid=sm_twitter_washingtonpost
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, agency officials said
Wednesday.
By Lena H. Sun December 24 at 4:03 PM Follow @bylenasun
http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...l?Post+generic=?tid=sm_twitter_washingtonpost
The potential exposure took place Monday when scientists conducting
research on the virus at a high-security lab mistakenly put a sample
containing the potentially infectious virus in a place where it was
transferred for processing to another CDC lab, also in Atlanta on the
CDC campus.
A lab technician who processed the material in the second lab and
perhaps a dozen others who entered the lab may have been exposed,
officials said. The technician has no symptoms of illness and is being
monitored for 21 days. Agency spokeswoman Barbara Reynolds said
others who entered the lab have been contacted and will be assessed for
possible exposure by CDC clinicians. She said the number of exposures
could be much less than a dozen.
Agency officials said there was no possible exposure outside the secure
laboratory at CDC and no exposure or risk to the public. The mistake
took place Monday afternoon and was discovered by laboratory scientists
Tuesday and reported to leadership within an hour of the discovery.
The event is under internal investigation by the CDC, and it was
reported to Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell and
to the program that has oversight over “select agents” such as Ebola and
anthrax.
The accident comes after a series of incidents earlier this summer
involving the mishandling of dangerous pathogens at the nation’s labs,
including one in June at a CDC lab that potentially exposed dozens of
employees to live anthrax because employees failed to properly
inactivate the anthrax when transferring samples.
“I am troubled by this incident in our Ebola research laboratory in
Atlanta,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden in a statement. “We are
monitoring the health of one technician who could possibly have been
exposed and I have directed that there be a full review of every aspect
of the incident and that CDC take all necessary measures. Thousands of
laboratory scientists in more than 150 labs throughout CDC have taken
extraordinary steps in recent months to improve safety. No risk to staff
is acceptable, and our efforts to improve lab safety are essential — the
safety of our employees is our highest priority.”
The lab where Monday’s potential exposure occurred was
decontaminated and the material destroyed as a routine procedure
before the error was identified. The laboratory was decontaminated for a
second time and is now closed, and transfers from the high-security lab
have stopped while the review is taking place.
The high-security lab where the mistakes were made also performs
diagnostic tests for Ebola, and has conducted hundreds of those tests
since July. Stuart Nichol, a top CDC official, said diagnostic testing for
Ebola will be moved to a different lab.
research on the virus at a high-security lab mistakenly put a sample
containing the potentially infectious virus in a place where it was
transferred for processing to another CDC lab, also in Atlanta on the
CDC campus.
A lab technician who processed the material in the second lab and
perhaps a dozen others who entered the lab may have been exposed,
officials said. The technician has no symptoms of illness and is being
monitored for 21 days. Agency spokeswoman Barbara Reynolds said
others who entered the lab have been contacted and will be assessed for
possible exposure by CDC clinicians. She said the number of exposures
could be much less than a dozen.
Agency officials said there was no possible exposure outside the secure
laboratory at CDC and no exposure or risk to the public. The mistake
took place Monday afternoon and was discovered by laboratory scientists
Tuesday and reported to leadership within an hour of the discovery.
The event is under internal investigation by the CDC, and it was
reported to Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell and
to the program that has oversight over “select agents” such as Ebola and
anthrax.
The accident comes after a series of incidents earlier this summer
involving the mishandling of dangerous pathogens at the nation’s labs,
including one in June at a CDC lab that potentially exposed dozens of
employees to live anthrax because employees failed to properly
inactivate the anthrax when transferring samples.
“I am troubled by this incident in our Ebola research laboratory in
Atlanta,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden in a statement. “We are
monitoring the health of one technician who could possibly have been
exposed and I have directed that there be a full review of every aspect
of the incident and that CDC take all necessary measures. Thousands of
laboratory scientists in more than 150 labs throughout CDC have taken
extraordinary steps in recent months to improve safety. No risk to staff
is acceptable, and our efforts to improve lab safety are essential — the
safety of our employees is our highest priority.”
The lab where Monday’s potential exposure occurred was
decontaminated and the material destroyed as a routine procedure
before the error was identified. The laboratory was decontaminated for a
second time and is now closed, and transfers from the high-security lab
have stopped while the review is taking place.
The high-security lab where the mistakes were made also performs
diagnostic tests for Ebola, and has conducted hundreds of those tests
since July. Stuart Nichol, a top CDC official, said diagnostic testing for
Ebola will be moved to a different lab.
