USA Today: "Lab error at CDC may have caused Ebola exposure"

A laboratory technician in Atlanta may have been exposed to the Ebola virus, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

A small amount of material from an Ebola virus experiment that was transported Monday from one lab to another may have contained live virus. The material was on a sealed plate but should not have been moved into the second laboratory, the CDC said in a statement.

There was no exposure outside the secure laboratory and no exposure or risk to the public, the CDC says. The mistake was discovered by laboratory scientists Tuesday.

 

The lab technician who processed the material has no symptoms of the illness, the CDC says, and will be monitored for 21 days. Others who entered the lab will be assessed for possible exposure.

 

"We've made sweeping changes to our lab safety protocols over the last couple of months," said CDC spokesman Tom Skinner. "But these incidents that involve human error simply cannot happen and we'll get to the bottom of what happened here."

 

Source:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/12/24/ebola-error-exposure-lab-atlanta/20878521/