CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. authorities increased to 84 people their count of government workers potentially exposed to live anthrax at three laboratories in Atlanta as they investigated a breach in safety procedures for handling the deadly pathogen.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the number of lab workers who may have been exposed rose from the 75 people first disclosed on Thursday. As of early Friday, 32 staff were taking the powerful antibiotic ciprofloxacin, or Cipro, and 20 were taking another antibiotic called doxycycline, CDC press officer Benjamin Haynes said in a statement.