WIKIMEDIA“Safety is not integrated into strategic planning and is not currently part of the CDC [US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] culture, enterprise-wide.” This is the conclusion of a new report evaluating the federal agency’s internal protocols.
The last nine months have been a public relations nightmare for the agency. In two separate incidents last summer, samples of live Bacillus anthracis were accidentally shipped to labs ill-equipped to handle the pathogen, and the CDC’s influenza lab mistakenly sent samples of the highly pathogenic H5N1 to a Department of Agriculture facility (instead of benign avian influenza virus). Then, in late December, another incorrect transfer of samples risked exposing a lab technician to Ebola.
Following these safety breaches, the CDC announced that it would hire a lab safety chief to oversee the handling of such dangerous pathogens, and brought an external work group of 11 biosafety and laboratory science experts in to assess its safety protocols. The group’s report—dated January 13 but just posted ...
