Center For Disease Control
This week, a crisis erupted as 75 scientists and 9
additional employees of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in
Atlanta, were accidentally exposed to anthrax, via a live sample,
due to lax safety procedures and protocols. The incident occurred in
a bioterrorism lab at the CDC. The employees are now being medically
monitored. Select employees have been administered a course of
antibiotics, while others were given the anthrax vaccine.
STORY SOURCE
Anthrax exposure sparks new scrutiny over CDC safety
Jun 20, 2014 12:16 PM ET - The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Ga., says as many as 84 of its
staff in Atlanta may have been accidentally exposed to dangerous
anthrax bacteria. As many as 84 scientists and staff may have been
exposed to live anthrax bacteria after researchers failed to follow
safety procedures, the U.S. government said Friday.
The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Thursday that at
least 75 people had been affected, prompting an investigation by
federal authorities. CDC spokesman Benjamin Haynes said in an email
on Friday that the number has increased to 84 potential exposures.
As of early Friday, 32 staff members were taking the
powerful antibiotic ciprofloxacin, or Cipro, and 20 were taking
another antibiotic called doxycycline, Haynes said in a statement.
CDC Anthrax In addition, as many as 27 people were getting the
anthrax vaccine to prevent infection. No illnesses have been
reported, but the agency expects the number of possible exposures to
rise as more people step forward now that news of the anthrax scare
is public.
The safety breach, which originated in the CDC's
bioterror lab, raised new concerns about the way laboratories around
the world conduct research into the deadliest known pathogens, from
anthrax to Ebola and avian flu. The CDC has already faced repeated
scrutiny over security lapses and mechanical malfunctions at some of
its labs dating back to at least 2007.
The CDC said it will cede control of the
investigation to the U.S. Department of Agriculture "to avoid
potential conflicts of interest." U.S. President Barack Obama was
briefed on the matter on Friday by his homeland security and
counterterrorism adviser, Lisa Monaco, the White House said. The
incident also is drawing scrutiny from Congress about whether the
CDC has the appropriate safety procedures in place to protect
federal employees from contamination.
A week ago, on Friday the 13th, bioterrorism
researchers at the CDC discovered they had mistakenly sent live
anthrax bacteria out to fellow scientists in two lower-security
clearance labs at the agency, instead of what they thought were
harmless samples of the deadly pathogen.