In this July 16, 2014, file photo a chart is on display on Capitol Hill in Washington during the House Oversight and Investigations subcommittee hearing about an incident at a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lab that handles bioterrorism agents.ONLINECDC page on anthrax incident
NEW YORK – The head of the government lab that potentially exposed workers to live anthrax has resigned, an agency spokesman said Wednesday.
Michael Farrell was head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lab since 2009. He submitted his resignation Tuesday, the spokesman said.
Farrell declined interview requests, said the spokesman, Tom Skinner.
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.