Reports & Updates

Lab Safety-Related Reports and Findings

• 2/4/15: CDC Report on the Potential Exposure to Ebola Virus [566KB]
• 12/16/14: Fact Sheet on Biosafety and Biosecurity in the United States: Results of the Safety Stand-Down.
• 12/16/14: Next Steps: Biosafety and Biosecurity at the CDC.
• 8/15/14: CDC Report on Cross-Contamination and Shipment of a Laboratory Specimen with Influenza Virus H5N1 [608KB]
• 7/11/14: CDC Report on the Potential Exposure to Anthrax [744KB]
• 11/08/12: External Review of CDC’s Animal Biosafety Level 3 Vivarium Facility [PDF 65KB]

Congressional Testimony

• Testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, July 16, 2014, written statement

Progress toward Addressing Recommendations

Following laboratory safety incidents at CDC involving select agents, CDC conducted comprehensive internal reviews of each incident.  An inspection of each involved laboratory was also conducted by USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Agricultural Select Agent Services.  During each review, an assessment of the event, contributing factors, and risk mitigation practices was completed.  Each review resulted in a report of findings and recommendations.  CDC concurs with these recommendations and has made progress towards implementing them.  CDC’s aim is to improve the culture of laboratory safety across the agency and mitigate the likelihood of future events.

Below are links to summaries of the laboratory safety improvement recommendations and implementation progress as of November 1, 2015, and prior. These summaries are updated as additional actions are implemented or until all recommendations are addressed.

Anthrax

CDC, Report on the Potential Exposure to Anthrax, July 11, 2014

• November 2015 Recommendation Progress
• September 2015 Recommendation Progress
• July 2015 Recommendation Progress
• March 2015 Recommendation Progress

USDA-APHIS, Entity Inspection Report Anthrax, July 10, 2014

• September 2015 Recommendation Progress
• July 2015 Recommendation Progress
• March 2015 Recommendation Progress

Influenza

CDC, Report on the Inadvertent Cross-Contamination and Shipment of a Laboratory Specimen with Influenza Virus H5N1, August 8, 2014

• November 2015 Recommendation Progress
• September 2015 Recommendation Progress
• July 2015 Recommendation Progress Update
• March 2015 Recommendation Progress Update

USDA-APHIS, Entity Inspection Report (H5N1), July 29, 2014

• September 2015 Recommendation Progress
• July 2015 Recommendation Progress Update
• March 2015 Recommendation Progress Update

Ebola

CDC, Report on the Potential Exposure to Ebola Virus, February 4, 2015

• November 2015 Recommendation Progress
• September 2015 Recommendation Progress
• July 2015 Recommendation Progress Update
• March 2015 Recommendation Progress Update