Infectious diseases Safety blunders expose lab staff to potentially lethal diseases in UK Exclusive: breaches investigated involve dengue virus, anthrax and other deadly pathogens Between June 2015 and July 2017, formal investigations were held into more that 40 mishaps at specialist laboratories. Photograph: Getty ImagesSafety breaches at UK labs that handle harmful bacteria, viruses and fungi have spread infections to staff and exposed others to potentially lethal diseases, the Guardian has learned. Older mishaps at UK labs cost human lives. “There have been a limited number of instances over the past two years where biological agents have been received by UK labs from other labs within the UK that were unsolicited, mislabelled or unlabelled. Responding to Freedom of Information requests from the Guardian, the US army said it shipped one batch to a UK lab in 2007, and 13 more to three UK labs in 2009.

Source: The Guardian February 09, 2018 19:01 UTC