US government lab reports possible Ebola exposure

A laboratory technician at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention may have been exposed to the Ebola virus due to a laboratory error, a media report said.

The incident took place Monday when laboratory scientists conducting research on Ebola at a high-security lab mistakenly transferred a sample containing a small amount of material from a live virus to another CDC lab in the same building, Xinhua reported citing a CDC statement issued Wednesday.

There was no exposure outside the laboratory and no exposure or risk to the public, the CDC said, adding the event was under internal investigation.

"I am troubled by this incident in our Ebola research laboratory in Atlanta," CDC Director Tom Frieden said in the statement. "I have directed that there will be a full review of every aspect of the incident and that CDC takes all necessary measures."