The recent anthrax debacle occurred June 5 when workers were preparing live Bacillus anthracis at a lab that did not follow mandated protocols to inactivate the bacterium. Because the anthrax was not properly killed, workers who received materials from that laboratory may have been unintentionally exposed to the deadly pathogen. No employees have become ill with anthrax symptoms. The CDC today said that it is possible that staff members were exposed to anthrax but “extremely unlikely.” “This is not the first time an event of this nature has occurred at CDC nor the first time it occurred from the [laboratory where the anthrax incident occurred],” the CDC noted in a new report, released today. The Centers are aware of four other such incidents in the past decade at the laboratory. The facility is now closed, the report notes.