June 19 (Reuters) -
As many as 75 scientists working in U.S. federal government laboratories in Atlanta may have been exposed to live anthrax bacteria and are being offered treatment to prevent infection, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday.
The potential exposure occurred after researchers working in a high-level biosecurity laboratory at the agency's Atlanta campus failed to follow proper procedures to inactivate the bacteria. They then transferred the samples, which may have contained live bacteria, to lower-security CDC labs not equipped to handle live anthrax. (Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago; Editing by Michele Gershberg and James Dalgleish) http://www.trust.org/item/20140619192611-23onl/?source=jtTheWire
