CDC Laboratory Safety Errors: The Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

After watching newly released The Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, I viewed the announcement from the the Director of the US Center for Disease Control about the CDC's recent safety errors flowing from cross contamination of viruses.

One cannot miss the "CDC" logo on the vehicles all over the movie and references to the mutated laboratory virus that was accidentally released and killed most the US population.

The CDC reported today:

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report today that reviews the early June incident that involved the unintentional exposure of personnel to potentially viable anthrax at the CDC’s Roybal Campus. The report identifies factors found to have contributed to the incident; and highlights actions taken by the agency to address these factors and prevent future incidents. Based on a review of all aspects of the June incident, CDC concluded that while it is not impossible that staff members were exposed to viable B. anthracis, it is extremely unlikely that this occurred. None of the staff who was potentially exposed has become ill with anthrax."

Bottom line is that CDC cross contaminated deadly pathogens and potentially exposed workers subjecting both them and the population at large to deadly viruses.

Scary as it sounds, it happened. Safety protocols of all laboratory workers need dramatic improvement. That improvement should begin with our Government setting a better example for all of us to follow.

Related articles

• Anthrax scare reveals more US lab safety problems (ktvb.com)
• As Many As 75 Scientists Exposed To Anthrax Bacteria, CDC Says (pbs.org)
• "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" Opens Nationwide Friday (eastidahonews.com)
• Laboratory Workers and Contacts Warned of Accidental Flu Pandemic (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Playing the TSA Cancer Lottery (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• CDC chief to testify on anthrax exposure scare (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)

Hog Wild: Factory Farms Are Poisoning Iowa's Drinking Water

Today's post was shared by Mother Jones and comes from www.motherjones.com  This story was originally published by OnEarth.
Before I even stepped from my truck onto the gravel outside the New Fashion Pork hog confinement facility, Emily Erickson, the company's animal well-being and quality assurance manager, handed me a pair of stretchy white plastic footies to put over my shoes. It was a blustery day in September, the sky threatening snow—the first hint of winter, when cold, dry air stabilizes viruses and biosecurity becomes a topmost concern.

All of the hogs inside the confinement near Jackson, Minnesota, just north of the Iowa state line and on the headwaters of the Des Moines River, would be sold to Hormel Foods. Hormel would soon post record profits on the strength of sales of Spam to Asian markets and the expansion of the company's China operations. But Jim Snee, head of Hormel Foods International, announced that the company was making an even bigger push, to firmly establish Spam in Chinese grocery stores before products from its competitor Smithfield Foods, purchased by Shuanghui International in May, could elbow them out. As a major supplier to Hormel's Spam plants in Minnesota and Nebraska, New Fashion Pork was racing to keep pace with demand. The last thing the company could afford was an outbreak of disease.

To an outsider, the hog industry's vigilance against external pathogens—symbolized by those hygienic footies—can seem strangely at odds with its dismissal of concerns about the effects of its facilities on human...

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Second cruise ship in a week hit by illness

Another cruise ship has returned to its home port early in the wake of an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness. Princess Cruises' Houston-based Caribbean Princess arrived back in the city late Thursday, more than 24 hours ahead of schedule. More than 160 of 3,104 passengers on the vessel had fallen ill with a gastrointestinal illness that the cruise line suspected was norovirus -- a highly contagious infection that causes severe vomiting and diarrhea. The incident comes just days after a massive outbreak of a norovirus-like illness forced an early end to a sailing of Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas. The ship returned to its home port of Bayonne, N.J. on Wednesday -- two days ahead of schedule -- after more than 20% of 3,071 passengers fell ill. While the Caribbean Princess' early return will allow time for a thorough cleaning before its next sailing, the decision to return ahead of schedule was prompted not by the outbreak but by a forecast for thick fog over the weekend that is likely to close Houston's port, the line says in a statement sent to USA TODAY. "We are mindful of our passengers' safety and comfort, as well as the disruption the port's closing will have on their onward travel plans," the statement says. Like Explorer of the Seas, the Caribbean Princess was on a Caribbean cruise. The ship set sail from Houston on Jan. 25 and was scheduled to return on...

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Comp Maybe Going Viral in Florida Over Dengue Fever

The Workers' Compensation in Florida may be in for yet another assault of claims as dengue virus rages from Ket West spreading north.  The Centers for Disease Control has now issued yet another report and alert concerning this wide spread viral condition. 

Viruses have, historically,  been a problematic challenge to the Workers' Compensation systems. Last flu season the government Federalized the flu compensation program. As this virus spreads, especially with the challenge of the Gulf Oil spill on the compensation system, the State of Florida will need to gear up to operationalize a response.

An estimated 5 percent of the Key West, Fla., population—over 1,000 people—showed evidence of recent exposure to dengue virus in 2009, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Florida Department of Health.

After three initial locally acquired cases of dengue were reported in 2009, scientists from the CDC and the Florida Department of Health conducted a study to estimate the potential exposure of the Key West population to dengue virus.

Dengue is the most common virus transmitted by mosquitoes in the world. It causes an estimated 50 million-100 million infections and 25,000 deaths each year. From 1946 to 1980, no cases of dengue acquired in the continental United States were reported, and there has not been an outbreak in Florida since 1934.

"We're concerned that if dengue gains a foothold in Key West, it will travel to other southern cities where the mosquito that transmits dengue is present, like Miami," said Harold Margolis, chief of the dengue branch at CDC. "The mosquito that transmits dengue likes to bite in and around houses, during the day and at night when the lights are on. To protect you and your family, CDC recommends using repellent on your skin while indoors or out. And when possible, wear long sleeves and pants for additional protection."

Since 1980, a few locally acquired U.S. cases have been confirmed along the Texas-Mexico border, which coincided with large outbreaks in neighboring Mexican cities. In recent years, there has been an increase in epidemic dengue in the tropics and subtropics, including Puerto Rico.

"These cases represent the reemergence of dengue fever in Florida and elsewhere in the United States after 75 years," Margolis said. "These people had not travelled outside of Florida, so we need to determine if these cases are an isolated occurrence or if dengue has once again become endemic in the continental United States."

To read more about workers' compensation and the H1N1 Flu click here.

Click here for more information on how Jon L Gelman can assist you in a claim for workers' Compensation claim benefits. You may e-mail Jon  Gelman or call 1-973-696-7900.