CDC's Flu and Anthrax Labs Closed After Safety Breaches

The CDC has closed its influenza and anthrax laboratories after two safety breaches could have exposed workers to dangerous pathogens.

By Amy Orciari Herman

Edited by Susan Sadoughi, MD, and André Sofair, MD, MPH

The CDC has closed its influenza and anthrax laboratories after two safety breaches could have exposed workers to dangerous pathogens.

In a news release on Friday, the agency said that while it is "extremely unlikely" that the widely publicized anthrax incident of early June exposed CDC workers to live bacteria, such exposures couldn't be ruled out. The agency also reported that earlier in 2014, a culture of nonpathogenic avian influenza was unintentionally cross-contaminated with highly pathogenic H5N1 at the CDC's flu lab and then shipped to a U.S. Department of Agriculture lab; no exposures occurred.

Adding insult to injury, two of six vials of smallpox from the 1950s recently discovered in an NIH lab have been found to contain viable virus, the New York Times reports.

The Times quotes CDC Director Tom Frieden: "These events revealed totally unacceptable behavior. ... I'm upset, I'm angry, I've lost sleep over this, and I'm working on it until the issue is resolved."

The CDC says it's taking multiple measures to prevent future incidents, including working to develop an external advisory group for laboratory safety.

Source:

MEDICAL NEWS | PHYSICIAN'S FIRST WATCH

July 14, 2014