Suspected Cutaneous Anthrax in a Laboratory Worker – Texas, 2002

Details

• Journal Article:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Personal Author:
  Bernard, Bruce P. ; Holmes, H. T. ; Mackey, T. A. ; Martinez, Kenneth F. ; Page, Elena H. ; Perkins, B. A. ; Popovic, T. ; Rosenstein, Nancy E. ; Seitz, Teresa A. ; Shepard, C. W. ; Tepper, Allison L. ; Weyant, R. S.
• Description:
  On March 6, 2002, CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) received a request for a health hazard evaluation from the director of Laboratory A to assist in the evaluation of a worker who had been diagnosed with cutaneous anthrax. Laboratory A, a provisionally approved Laboratory Response Network level B laboratory, had been processing environmental samples for Bacillus anthracis in support of CDC investigations of the bioterrorist attacks in the United States during fall 2001. Since March 7, CDC has interviewed the ill laboratory worker and other workers at the laboratory and conducted environmental assessments of the workplace. This report summarizes the epidemiologic and environmental investigation of this case, which indicates that the likely source of exposure was the surface of vials containing B. anthracis isolates that the worker placed in a freezer on March 1. Laboratory workers handling specimens of B. anthracis should follow recommended procedures to minimize the risk of B. anthracis transmission and anthrax. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Bacterial Infections Biological Warfare Agents Communicable Diseases Epidemiology Laboratories Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Bacterial-disease Bacterial-infections Biological-weapons Employee-exposure Infectious-diseases Laboratory-equipment Laboratory-testing Laboratory-workers Occupational-exposure Region-6 Sampling

  More +
• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Publisher:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (U.S.)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 6 ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  4 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Mattorano, D. ; King, Bradley S. ; Booher, D.
• Volume:
  51
• Issue:
  13
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20022600
• Citation:
  MMWR 2002 Apr; 51(13):279-281
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5dece82fcc89a9c492841e8909326e67fd348c8def26f02de1f3df3bcca9a61dedd607764bfeea1841631ba19578e6c563eb418035279a3cbb755852ae1986cb
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/183307/cdc_183307_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 102.18 KB ]