A search of government labs in the wake of a July discovery of old vials of smallpox virus has turned up additional improperly stored pathogens that cause plague, tularemia, melioidosis, botulism, and a certain foodborne disease, as well as the toxin ricin, the Washington Post reported today.
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) said yesterday that it has requested US researchers to conduct a "safety stand-down" to assess stocks of potentially dangerous pathogens and outlined longer-term steps to ensure lab biosecurity.
The US government plans to request that federally funded laboratories suspend all work on potentially dangerous pathogens for about 24 hours to inventory stocks of microbes, ScienceInsider reported today.
In its report on flu sample cross-contamination today, the CDC detailed departures from best practices and reporting delays.
Two leading experts urge both sides in the debate to keep an open mind and to set up a conference.
Journal editors call for specific steps, while the ASM said it wants the NAS to weigh the risks and benefits.
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.
Officials from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said yesterday that it might be impossible to trace how H9N2 avian flu samples it sent to a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) lab in Athens, Ga., became cross-contaminated with the lethal H5N1 strain, Reuters reported yesterday.
The hearing revealed systemic problems and worries about the safety culture of lab workers.
The NSABB chair says delays in developing a DURC policy have been to blame.