A second investigation identified more problems with safety procedures at federal bioresearch laboratories involving the handling of dangerous pathogens such as anthrax. The new findings come ahead of a Wednesday congressional hearing on the failures.
On Monday, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations released a memo describing an investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture into a recent incident involving the mishandling of anthrax last month at a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention laboratory in Atlanta.
The USDA discovered missing anthrax containers that needed to be tracked down by inspectors, dangerous biomaterials transferred in zip-close bags, and anthrax stored in unlocked refrigerators in areas easily accessible to CDC staffers, according to the subcommittee's memo.
