July 23, 2014

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Head of troubled CDC anthrax lab has resigned

(AP)—Health officials say that the head of the government lab which potentially exposed workers to live anthrax has resigned.

Michael Farrell was head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lab since 2009. A CDC spokesman says he resigned Tuesday.

Farrell was reassigned following an incident last month at an Atlanta lab that handles bioterrorism agents. The lab was supposed to completely kill anthrax samples before sending them to two other CDC labs that had fewer safeguards. But the higher-security lab did not completely sterilize the bacteria.

Dozens of CDC workers were potentially exposed to . No one got sick. But an internal investigation found serious safety lapses, including use of an unapproved sterilization technique.

The CDC spokesman declined to give any other details.

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