Laboratory-Acquired Sabiá Virus Infection

To the Editor: In their editorial (Aug. 3 issue), 1 Drs. Murphy and Johnson recommend that the causes of a laboratory accident at Yale University in the summer of 1994 should be carefully reviewed. In fact, shortly after the incident Yale requested two reviews, one by an internal biologic-safety committee of distinguished Yale scientists and a second by an external review committee of distinguished U.S. scientists convened at Yale's request by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Both of these helpful and constructive reviews established human error as the principal factor in the incident and recommended improvements in laboratory procedures . . .