Atlanta ( CNN ) A report on lab safety at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put together by a committee of external experts calls the agency 's commitment to safety `` inconsistent and insufficient . '' The report , which was completed in January but posted on the agency 's website this week , also says `` laboratory safety training is inadequate . '' The report was put together by an external group of 11 experts in biosafety , laboratory science and research . In the report , they say they are `` very concerned that the CDC is on the way to losing credibility . '' The agency created the advisory group to improve lab safety in July in the wake of two mishaps and other issues that were uncovered through procedural reviews . One incident occurred in June when dozens of employees in a bioterrorism lab working with the deadly anthrax virus , were at risk because of a failure to properly follow sterilization techniques . The head of that lab resigned after the incident . This followed a May incident in which avian influenza samples , thought to not be dangerous , were unintentionally mixed with the deadly H5N1 influenza virus and then shipped to a USDA lab . Then in December , with the advisory group already working to reduce lab safety risks and improve the culture of safety , employees in the Ebola lab were potentially exposed to that virus when a technician mistakenly transported the wrong specimens from a high-level lab to a lower-level lab . Internal investigations were done after each incident , and various changes were recommended such as cameras being added to some labs and certificates being required to transfer samples from some labs , following the Ebola incident . The four-page report summarizes the groups findings and offers recommendations following visits to CDC labs , meetings with CDC staff and a survey about the laboratory safety culture at CDC . The report recommends all CDC labs go through an external review and accreditation process . They suggest the College of American Pathologists for clinical labs and the American Biological Safety Association for research labs . To that point , the committee says in the report , `` The CDC must not see itself as special . The internal controls and rules that the rest of the world works under also apply to CDC . '' Other recommendations include : . -- Funding for lab safety programs and standardized training . -- Implementing risk assessments . -- Establishing a system of responsible science and accountability . -- Rewarding researchers who run safe labs . -- Hiring a director to oversee lab safety . In response to the recommendations , CDC Chief Operating Officer Sherri Berger said in a statement , `` It 's critical that we continue to solicit feedback on how we can improve our operations , especially functions as critical as lab safety . We brought this group of external experts together over the summer to assist us with identifying and implementing solutions , of which many are already underway . ''
External advisory committee to CDC warns the agency is on its way to losing credibility . The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been under fire from Congress over a series of reports that have raised questions about whether it was too slow in responding to outbreaks of deadly diseases such as E@@