Accidents on rise as more US labs handle lethal germs

The mishaps include workers bitten or scratched by infected animals, skin cuts, needle sticks, and more, according to a review by the Associated Press of confidential reports submitted to federal regulators. They describe accidents involving anthrax, bird flu virus, monkeypox, and plague-causing bacteria at 44 labs in 24 states. More than two dozen events were still under investigation.

The number of accidents has risen steadily. Through August, the most recent period covered in the reports obtained by the Associated Press, labs reported 36 accidents and lost shipments during 2007 - nearly double the number reported during all of 2004.

Likewise, the number of labs approved by the government to handle the deadliest substances has nearly doubled to 409 since 2004, and there are now 15 of the highest-security labs. Labs are routinely inspected by federal regulators once every three years, but accidents trigger interim inspections.

In 2004, three scientists working in a Boston University laboratory were contaminated with the bacterium that causes tularemia while studying the germ. All three recovered, although one was hospitalized for several days. BU said that the researchers, who were working in a Biosafety Level-2 lab, violated safety procedures intended to protect them from exposure, and the accident led city health authorities to impose new oversight on all labs in Boston.

The accidents happened as BU sought governmental approvals to build a high-security lab where scientists could study the world's deadliest germs, including Ebola, anthrax, and plague. That controversial project, known as a Biosafety Level-4 lab, is under construction on BU's South End campus and expected to open in about a year.

In a new report by congressional investigators, the Government Accountability Office said little is known about labs that are not federally funded or don't work with any of 72 dangerous substances the government monitors most closely.

"No single federal agency . . . has the mission to track the overall number of these labs in the United States," said the GAO's report, expected to be released later this week. "Consequently, no agency is responsible for determining the risks associated with the proliferation of these labs."