Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the C.D.C., testified before Congress in July about previous lab mistakes, admitting that they were part of a pattern of unsafe practices. Credit Shawn Thew/European Pressphoto Agency
A laboratory mistake at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta may have exposed a technician to the deadly Ebola virus, federal officials said on Wednesday. The technician will be monitored for signs of infection for 21 days, the incubation period of the disease.
Word of the accident provoked concern and disbelief from some safety experts. Dangerous samples of anthrax and flu were similarly mishandled at the C.D.C. just months ago, eroding confidence in an agency that has long been one of the most respected research centers in the world.
Other employees who entered the lab where the mistake occurred were being examined for possible exposure. There are fewer than a dozen, and so far it appears that none were infected, said Thomas Skinner, a C.D.C. spokesman.
The samples were properly contained and never left the C.D.C. campus, so there is no risk to the public, officials said.
The error occurred on Monday, when a high-security lab, working with Ebola virus from the epidemic in West Africa, sent samples that should have contained killed virus to another C.D.C. laboratory, down the hall.
But the first lab sent the wrong samples — ones that may have contained the live virus. The second lab was not equipped to handle live Ebola. The technician there who worked with the samples wore gloves and a gown, but no face shield, and may have been exposed.
The mixup was discovered on Tuesday, Dr. Stuart Nichol, chief of the C.D.C.’s Viral Special Pathogens Branch, said in an interview. He ascribed it to human error.
In a statement, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the C.D.C., said he was “troubled by this incident†and promised “a full review of every aspect.†Thousands of agency scientists, he said, “have taken extraordinary steps in recent months to improve safety.†The C.D.C. promised last summer to improve its safety procedures and chose a panel of outside experts to advise it on how to do so.
Under harsh questioning from members of Congress in July, Dr. Frieden admitted that the errors at C.D.C. labs were not isolated mishaps, but rather part of a broad pattern of unsafe practices. He called one of the episodes a “tipping point†that had forced agency officials to realize they needed to take action.
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