In its ongoing response to safety lapses at two of its high-containment labs, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today announced the members of an external lab safety work group. The 11-person group will advise CDC Director Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, and the CDC's new director of lab safety, Michael Bell, MD, according to a statement.
The hearing revealed systemic problems and worries about the safety culture of lab workers.
A US House of Representatives committee that will host a hearing on Jul 16 to question federal officials on recent incidents involving anthrax bacteria and other pathogens at US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) labs today unveiled some findings from its requests for documents and testimony about the agency's biosafety issues.
In addition to recent problems with anthrax and smallpox, high-path avian flu has now entered the mix.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) director, Thomas Frieden, MD, MPH, has been asked by three top Republicans on the US House Energy Committee for several types of information on the recent breach of safety protocols resulting in possible exposure of lab personnel to Bacillus anthracis, the bacterium that causes anthrax, according to Reuters today.
The CDC says some lab workers can discontinue antibiotic treatment and vaccination.
Suriname health officials yesterday said more chikungunya infections have been detected, suggesting the possibility of local transmission, Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) reported today.
Early results of environmental tests at CDC labs are negative.
Nine more workers may have been exposed to Bacillus anthracis.
The CDC is monitoring and providing antibiotics to about 75 staffers over Bacillus anthracis concerns.
