CDC lab technician under watch after possible exposure to Ebola



ATLANTA (AP) — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials say a lab technician is being monitored for possible exposure to the Ebola virus.

CDC spokeswoman Barbara Reynolds says in an emailed statement Wednesday that the person working in a secure laboratory in Atlanta may have come into contact with a small amount of a live virus that was part of an Ebola experiment.

Reynolds says the potential exposure is under internal investigation and has been reported to Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell. Reynolds says additional employees have been notified, but none has required monitoring.

CDC Director Tom Frieden says he's troubled by the employee's potential exposure.

In June, at least 52 workers at the CDC took antibiotics as a precaution because a lab safety problem was thought to have exposed them to anthrax.