Posted on 06/22/2012 2:59:55 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
Air Leak Sparks Safety Fears at CDC Bioterror Lab
CDC's Emerging Infectious Disease Lab has experienced repeated problems with airflow systems
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the federal agency charged with preventing the spread of infectious diseases has come under attack today for "serious" airflow problems in an Atlanta building that houses anthrax, SARS and monkeypox.
Documents and emails obtained by USA Today suggest that a poorly engineered airflow system in the CDC's Building 18 could expose unprotected staff and visitors to dangerous airborne pathogens.
"As the door closed a very noticeable puff of air could be felt coming through the slit in the window out into the 'clean' corridor," CDC safety inspector Eddie Jackson wrote in a Feb. 16 email to a top safety official after feeling air flow out of a potentially contaminated lab and into a communal hallway. "Don't know whether this was a fluke or the norm, and the reason I'm commenting is one of the visitors seemed concerned and has been talking about it since we've come back."
The documents suggest a breach in biosafety regulations, imposed nationwide by the CDC itself, that dictate labs housing the most dangerous inhalable infectious agents must be maintained under "negative pressure."
"This means that the pressure inside the room is less than the pressure outside the room, so that all air will flow in; none will flow out," said ABC News' chief health and medical editor Dr. Richard Besser.
Besser, who is the former head of the CDC's Coordinating Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response, said airflow systems serve as a final safeguard, keeping dangerous germs confined to labs where workers are properly protected by gear that may include gloves, laboratory clothing and respirators.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Biosafety Level III - A CDC scientist is seen here working with the 1918 Pandemic Influenza Virus in a Biosafety Level 3-enhanced lab. The 1918 Spanish flu epidemic was caused by an influenza A (H1N1) virus, killing more than 500,000 people in the United States, and up to 50 million worldwide. The possible source was a newly emerged virus from a swine or an avian host of a mutated H1N1, according to the CDC. Photo: CDC/ James Gathany.
Updated ...
Congress Investigates Air Leak, Possible Safety Lapses At CDC Lab
http://fox2now.com/2012/06/22/congress-investigates-air-leak-possible-safety-lapses-at-cdc-lab/
” Congress Investigates Air Leak, Possible Safety Lapses At CDC Lab “
Congress is investigating - I feel much safer now...
/s
Scary stuff...wonder how long since things have been “upgraded” there?
I could never do what these brave people do day in and day out; they are either crazy or heroes-or both!
But thank God for them as they work quietly behind the scenes protecting not just the USofA, but the planet...
Wow.... Summertime means plenty of vectors flying around... Just sayin.
can I get me some monkeypox here?
Bush’s fault.
I am Spermhead. Take me to your eggs!
They should avoid leaks, until they can leak a really cool virus, like the one in the movie, “28 Days Later.”
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