Anthrax ‘Mishap’ Investigation Reveals Shocking Safety Lapses

Anthrax mishandling at a federal government laboratory in Atlanta was billed as a highly unusual incident, but additional safety lapses have been discovered during the investigation into the health scare. A report released earlier this week by a House committee revealed that additional vials of anthrax were found stored in unrestricted hallways in unlocked refrigerators.

The report findings by a special unit of Agriculture Department investigators have raised enhanced concern about the overall scope of the Anthrax exposure incident at the government lab in Georgia. The House committee report also cited worries about the “culture of laboratory safety” at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lab in Atlanta.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, approximately 85 CDC workers were exposed to live Anthrax after staffers unknowingly transported samples from one lab to other facilities. The House Energy and Commerce subcommittee has scheduled a hearing regarding the Anthrax incident for tomorrow. CDC Director Thomas Frieden is scheduled to testify and be questioned about “numerous other incidents” over the past 10 years involving the mishandling of deadly microbes.

Earlier this year, CDC researchers reportedly sent a virulent strain of the bird flu to a USDA lab in Georgia by mistake. “Each layer we peel back in this investigation seems to reveal a new instance of carelessness in the CDC’s management of dangerous pathogens,” Representative Tim Murphy said. Murphy is a Republican Representative from Pennsylvania who also heads the House Energy and Commerce oversight subcommittee.

After the June Anthrax incident, which caused concern both inside the beltway and around America, the CDC initiated an internal investigation into the matter. The disease control agency asked the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to embark upon a “parallel probe.” The findings of the USDA investigation revealed long list of “mishaps.” Such mishaps could cause deadly consequences for CDC staff, and even spark a pandemic of massive proportion throughout the country.

Sampling of the Anthrax mishandling issues cited in the government report:

• Anthrax containers were missing and had to be tracked down by USDA inspectors.

• Deadly or dangerous materials were being transferred in Ziploc bags. Such containers do not meet he “durable” requirement for containment.

• Anthrax was also stored in unlocked refrigerators in unrestricted hallways which workers passed by frequently. USDA inspectors found the key to one of the refrigerators dangling from its lock.

• Some of the CDC lab workers who were potentially exposed to Anthrax were not examined for five days after the incident as required.

• Disinfectant used to decontaminate vials and bags had expired, and researchers could not remember whether they had used expired bleach to decontaminate areas after the potential release was identified.

What do you think about the mishandling of Anthrax by the CDC? Could such safety lapses lead to bioterrorism in the United States?

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