CDC lab in disease scare upgraded

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CDC lab in disease scare upgraded

Atlanta Journal Constitution - Atlanta,GA*

By KEN FOSKETT

09/15/07

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/09/14/cdc_0915.html

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is upgrading the

safety of one of its high containment laboratories after a

mechanical malfunction threatened 10 employees with exposure to a

contagious disease in late May, officials said Friday.

None of the employees contracted Q fever, an animal disease that can

cause high fevers in humans, but the preliminary scare was real

enough that all 10 were given both an initial and follow-up blood

test, officials said.

The incident was confined to one lab and a connected room used to

hold animals.

" At no point was there any worry of any environmental contamination

or a risk to anyone else in the entire building, " said Dr. Casey

Chosewood, director of the CDC's office of health and safety. " It

was limited to only those folks who were in that adjacent space next

to the Q fever lab. "

While no one was harmed, the incident comes at an awkward time for

the CDC. Congress is having a hearing next month on the safety of

high containment labs, which have proliferated across the country

after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee is particularly concerned

about a power outage at the CDC in June, which failed to trigger

backup power used to keep air circulating in the building.

Mechanical failures were also to blame in the Q fever lab.

Air supply to the lab was shut down for maintenance the night before

the incident and failed to restart as programmed, Chosewood said.

That failure, combined with continued function of the air exhaust

system, caused air pressure to build up inside, at such force that

it blew open a door to the adjacent room.

Workers entering the adjacent room in the early morning of May 25

noticed the open door and reported the breach. Though no experiments

were under way in the lab, the workers were tested for Q fever

exposure as a precaution, Chosewood said.

Investigating what happened, CDC officials found that the door's

seal, which is supposed to be airtight at all times, had somehow

been broken before the mechanical failure to the air supply unit

caused the pressure buildup.

The door and another one like it have been fitted with manual

latches to prevent them from opening, Chosewood said.

Officials also are planning to install a second air supply unit, so

that air pressure will remain stable in both rooms if one unit were

to fail. They also are exploring the utility of installing alarms

that would sound if air pressure inside the lab zooms out of range.