In an apparent effort to improve what has been viewed as lax and risky security practices in government laboratories, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is set to announce a new safety advisory panel later this week.
On Tuesday, CDC director Thomas Frieden told reporters at the National Press Club in Washington that invitations to join the safety advisory panel have already been issued on Friday and that the responses should arrive anytime soon.
To ensure the independence of the panel, the members, who will serve under the rules stipulated in the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which oversees the operation of federal advisory committees, should have not worked in CDC.
"It's as independent as we can get," Frieden said adding that the panel will be composed of experts in the field of biosecurity.
CDC has been under fire in recent weeks following the discovery of how its laboratories mishandled deadly pathogens particularly samples of anthrax bacteria, which could have put the lives of CDC scientists and staff at risk.
In June, over 80 CDC employees were feared to have been exposed to the potentially deadly anthrax bacteria due to failure by scientists at a high security lab to inactivate the bacteria. Investigations conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) revealed more problems on how CDC laboratories deal with dangerous pathogens. Investigators, for instance, found anthrax in non-restricted refrigerators and noted that CDC lab workers are not aware of the risks of anthrax as well as lack training on how to properly decontaminate areas.
Earlier this year, CDC researchers also cross-contaminated a relatively harmless form of bird flu virus with a more dangerous and deadly strain before this was accidentally sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Poultry researchers at the USDA reported that all of their chickens have died. CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said that the samples were believed to be H9N2 when they were sent and not cross contaminated.
Amidst the scandal over the agency's mishandling of dangerous bacteria and viruses, Frieden has pledged to make changes that would improve how pathogens are handled in CDC labs when he appeared to testify at a U.S. House subcommittee investigation on Wednesday.
"We need to greatly improve the culture of safety and I'm overseeing sweeping measures to improve that culture of safety," Frieden said.
