MONROVIA, LIBERIA - AUGUST 21:   Centers for Disease Control (CDC), virologist Clayton Onyango checks the "deactivated" results of blood testing for Ebola in a newly-opened mobile laboratory on August 21, 2014 near Monrovia, Liberia. The lab, only one of two in Liberia that tests for Ebola, was opened next to the Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Ebola treatment facility to test the surge of patients being admitted with symptoms of the deadly virus. The lab has already tested dozens of blood samples in its first two days and expects the number to increase drastically. The facility was shipped to Liberia earlier this week as a joint project between the CDC, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), and constitutes one of the U.S. government's major contributions to containing the Ebola epidemic in Liberia.  (Photo by )
CDC technician monitored for Ebola virus
03:13 - Source: CNN

Story highlights

CDC statement says the public isn't at risk

Exposure came inside secure lab, as material was transferred

Scientist has no symptoms, but will be monitored for 21 days

Others will also be assessed, the agency says

CNN  — 

A technician from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be monitored for three weeks after possibly being exposed to the Ebola virus at one of the agency’s Atlanta labs, the CDC said Wednesday.

The CDC said in a written statement that a small amount of material from an experiment was mistakenly transferred from one lab to another and it might have contained the live virus. The incident was discovered Tuesday.

The technician has no symptoms of the illness, CDC Director of Public Relations Barbara Reynolds said in the statement.

“Others who entered the lab have been contacted and will be assessed for possible exposure by the CDC Occupational Health Clinic. As of this time we believe exposure requiring monitoring is limited to one individual,” the CDC said.

There is no possibility of exposure outside the lab and no risk to the public, the statement said.

The center is investigating the incident, which CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden called troubling. He said the agency is taking “all necessary measures.”

That includes destroying the material, decontaminating and closing the lab, letting staff know about the incident and notifying the proper oversight agencies.

This is not the first incident in which the transfer from one lab to another risked exposure to potentially deadly material.

In early June, dozens of CDC workers were potentially exposed to anthrax after a lab failed to inactivate the dangerous bacteria before transferring it to another lab.

An outside investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found dangerous biological materials stored in unlocked refrigerators and a general lack of lab workers following safety protocols. Investigators said the anthrax that was believed to be deactivated was transferred in Ziploc bags, which are not approved to carry such materials.

Frieden, who took the CDC director job in 2009, acknowledged at a congressional hearing into that incident and others that he and other CDC managers failed to recognize a “critical pattern.”

CDC director warns against Ebola complacency

CNN’s Ben Tinker contributed to this report.