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NEWS ROUND-UP: CDC May Have Mishandled Ebola Virus

Najmedin Meshkati comments on the human error in the mishandling of a live Ebola virus
By: Regina Wu
January 13, 2015 —

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) may have mistakenly transferred a live Ebola virus to one of its laboratories and exposed one of its technicians to the deadly disease. USC Viterbi Civil and Environmental Engineering and Industrial and Systems Engineering Professor Najmedin Meshkati discusses human error and the importance of an organization's safety culture. 

Below is a sampling of recent of media articles about this issue.

A laboratory mistake at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta may have exposed a technician to the deadly Ebola virus, federal officials said on Wednesday. The technician will be monitored for signs of infection for 21 days, the incubation period of the disease. (View article)

Last Monday (December 22), a technician at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may have been exposed to the deadly Ebola virus from West Africa, when samples that may have contained live virus were sent from a high-security lab to one that was not equipped to handle live Ebola. The technician who worked in the recipient lab and may have been exposed to the incorrect samples wore gloves and a gown, but no face shield, The New York Times reported. The mistake was discovered the next day and attributed to human error, according to Stuart Nichol, chief of the CDC’s Viral Special Pathogens Branch. (View article)

The individual, who is located in Atlanta, may have come into contact with the live virus, the Associated Press reported. The sample was contained in an enclosed plate, but was not supposed to be handled or moved. The worker will not be under surveillance for 21 days. (View article)

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lab appears to have mistakenly transferred the wrong Ebola samples — ones that may have contained live virus — to another CDC lab. (View article)

A laboratory mistake at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta may have exposed a technician to the deadly Ebola virus, federal officials said Wednesday. The technician will be monitored for signs of infection for 21 days, the incubation period of the disease. (View article)