ST. JOSEPH, MI - Congressman Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, released a strongly worded statement Friday condemning the practices surrounding a recent safety breach at a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lab in Georgia.
On June 5, there was an unintentional release of potentially viable anthrax within the CDC's Roybal Campus in Atlanta. More than 80 lab workers were potentially exposed to anthrax, according to a release from the House Energy and Commerce Committee, of which Upton is the chair.
The following is Upton's statement in its entirety:
'The repeated breakdown in protocols and safety failures involving the world's deadliest germs and pathogens is wholly unacceptable. The consequences of such carelessness could not be more dire. This latest revelation underscores the need for our investigation and the importance of next week's hearing to review the safety measures and practices at the CDC. Past fixes by CDC several years ago apparently were not followed and not adequately implemented.
'We will seek to find out why CDC thinks its latest actions will prove more effective than past efforts, and whether congressional intervention may be necessary. We look forward to hearing directly from Dr. Frieden next Wednesday and will seek his firm commitment that such safety lapses are over.'
Entities 0 Name: CDC Count: 4 1 Name: Upton Count: 2 2 Name: Georgia Count: 1 3 Name: Dr. Frieden Count: 1 4 Name: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lab Count: 1 5 Name: House Energy and Commerce Committee Count: 1 6 Name: Joseph Count: 1 7 Name: R-St Count: 1 8 Name: Atlanta Count: 1 9 Name: Fred Upton Count: 1 10 Name: Roybal Campus Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1r41oBd Title: CDC increases lab safety regulations after recent scares Description: Following a string of public safety scares, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be shutting down two research labs, temporarily stopping all transfers of samples from high-level biosafety labs, and strengthening its laboratory safety precautions, the CDC announced in a report Friday.
