The tuberculosis lab at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is set to re-open, the New York Times reports.
The lab, along with others at the agency, was closed earlier this month following the mishandling of the anthrax and H5N1 influenza viruses in incidents that exposed CDC personnel to the infectious agents.
The TB lab has passed safety checks and can re-open, the Times says. The agency also hopes to re-open other labs such as the ones that handle the Ebola and chikungunya viruses — an Ebola epidemic is raging in Africa and chikungunya is increasingly being diagnosed in the US.
CDC has also set up a panel of outside experts to advise its director, Thomas Frieden, on safety. Ten of the 11 appointees work at US medical schools or state laboratories; none have worked at CDC. The 11th appointee works at Britain's public health agency.
Critics say that the panel has a vague mandate and should include more foreign members as an accident involving a pathogen could have global consequences, the Times adds.