ATLANTA — The president of the union that represents nearly 2,000 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employees said Wednesday she's not surprised about an error in a lab that exposed a technician to possible Ebola virus.
Pamela Gilbertz told Channel 2’s Mike Petchenik she believes CDC leadership has failed to keep its workers safe.
“It’s not the first incident we’ve had such as this one, and until CDC really takes employee health and safety seriously, not just says they take it seriously, but really takes it seriously, and involves the right people in making improvements, it’s going to continue to happen,” she said.
In a statement, CDC officials said a scientist working with a specimen of possible live Ebola mistakenly moved the material from one lab to another, possibly exposing the technician and others. The statement said there is no risk to the general public.
CDC Director Tom Frieden said this:
"I am troubled by this incident in our Ebola research laboratory in Atlanta. We are monitoring the health of one technician who could possibly have been exposed and I have directed that there be a full review of every aspect of the incident and that CDC take all necessary measures.
“Thousands of laboratory scientists in more than 150 labs throughout CDC have taken extraordinary steps in recent months to improve safety. No risk to staff is acceptable, and our efforts to improve lab safety are essential -- the safety of our employees is our highest priority."
An internal memo obtained by Channel 2’s Jodie Fleischer said the worker was showing no signs or symptoms of Ebola and would be monitored for 21 days.
Fewer than a dozen other employees were notified about the incident because they may have come in contact with the specimen, CDC spokeswoman Barbara Reynolds told Petchenik.
Gilbertz said after an incident at a lab this summer, in which dozens of employees were potentially exposed to anthrax, the CDC created a laboratory safety work group, on which Gilbertz requested to be included.
“Why would you not want to have union representatives involved in a worker health and safety improvements work group?” she said. “I was told by the chief operating officer that there was no need for the union to be involved because it’s about the science.”
Gilbertz said she has fought, to no avail, for the CDC to require workers with known exposure to Ebola to be quarantined away from work.
“That’s all I’m asking,” she said. “Do what the law requires you to do, take reasonable precautions to protect the health of workers, which in turn will protect the health of the public.”
Gilbertz said CDC employees who volunteered to fight Ebola are the real heroes and deserve protections.
“My duty is protect the health of the public, and we can’t do that if we’re not protecting the health of our own workers,” she said.
Late Wednesday, CDC Spokesman Tom Skinner responded to Gilbertz’s concerns. He said the CDC has made “sweeping changes” to its laboratory safety practices.
“They’re not perfect,” he said, but added they will make more changes based on the outcome of the investigation into what happened.
WSBTV
