The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Thursday that 75 of their staff may have been exposed to the anthrax bacteria after a safety problem in one of its Atlanta labs.

According to the Associated Press, the problem had occurred when samples of the anthrax bacteria, originally prepared at a high level bio-security lab were not completely inactivated when it was transferred to at least three lower level security labs for testing.

Like Us on Facebook

Thinking that the bacteria were inactivated, some of the workers had not bothered to wear protective suits when they handled the samples. Moreover, testing procedures conducted in two of the labs may have spread the anthrax spores in the air.

The discovery was made last Friday when live strains of the bacteria were found on materials for disposal. To contain the exposure, the CDC tested and decontaminated all its labs and hallways and said it will reopen once it is deemed "safe to operate," the agency said in a statement.

"When we learned what had happened we moved as swiftly as possible to contact anyone who was possibly exposed," CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said.

He revealed that the agency had not been able to publicly announce the incident as soon as possible because their first priority was in containing the bacteria and contacting people who could have possibly been exposed to the anthrax. He added that although the "risk of infection seems very low," staff who were exposed are being observed and "given antibiotics as a precaution".

Experts said that this seems to be the highest incidence of exposure since 2001 when scientist Bruce Irvins had allegedly sent anthrax spores to people through the mail, killing five people and infecting 17 others.

Association of Public Health Laboratories executive director Scott J. Becker urged the CDC to reveal all results of the investigation.

"It's important to learn what happened there so we can ensure it doesn't happen again. Labs work on anthrax all the time."

With regard to the workers who had not followed standard procedure, the agency said they will be disciplined "as necessary."

TagsCenters for Disease Control and Prevention, Anthrax, Disease, Scott Becker, Association of Public Health, lab, Bacillus anthracis, Infection, deadly disease, Health news, Science news, atlanta