The Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention admitted Wednesday the agency failed to realize the safety breaches that occurred over the years might have been caused by a systemic failure, the Associated Press reported.
At a Congressional probe on Capitol Hill, CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said there have been previous accidents involving dangerous bacteria and diseases, but it wasn't until recently the agency was forced to take a look at how the laboratories handle hazardous material.
"In hindsight, we realized we missed a crucial pattern," Frieden told an oversight subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the AP reported.
Frieden echoed the same attitude a day before his testimony.
"CDC responded to particular incidents in the past, but we did not recognize the broader pattern, and we did not act in a way that addressed that broader pattern effectively." Frieden said Tuesday according to USA Today.
Frieden's testimony comes less than a month after dozens of federal scientists were exposed to live anthrax spores that were supposed to be sterilized before they were used in experiments at a CDC lab in Atlanta.
None of the scientists became sick, but the breach- along with another one last week involving a deadly strain of bird flu, resulted in the oversight committee hauling the CDC official in front of the House to account for the security lapses.
"This is not sound science. This will not be tolerated. These practices put the American public at risk," Representative Tim Murphy, a Republican from Pennsylvania, said according to the AP.
The CDC is in charge of making sure U.S laboratories handling the world's deadliest germs are safe. Health experts at the hearing suggested closing down most of the nation's top labs- over 1,000- to keep a better eye on safety conditions, the AP reported. So far there are no reports on whether or not that will happen.
"We are now taking comprehensive, urgent steps to strengthen the culture of laboratory safety at CDC," Frieden said according to USA Today.
