College lab class ends with 32 people on antibiotics for deadly germ exposure

A college microbiology lab class led to a false alarm with real medical consequences. Thirty-three people—including students, professors, and lab staff—believed they'd been exposed to a deadly pathogen. Thirty-two took antibiotics as a precaution, and two underwent spinal taps after developing mild symptoms. Fortunately, none of them had actually been exposed to any dangerous germ. Ars Technica reports on the incident, which was recently documented in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The lab exercise was meant to be a straightforward test where students identified mystery bacteria using biochemical analysis. The bizarre incident stands as a cautionary tale for laboratory practice.

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