Anthrax vials needed bleach

ATLANTA -- A Texas laboratory where a worker contracted anthrax failed to spray its vials with the recommended bleach solution because it made the labels come off, the government said Thursday.

The worker contracted the skin form of the disease in March after touching the vials without gloves and then touching a cut on his face, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The lab sprayed the vials with an alcohol solution instead of bleach, the CDC said.

Neither the worker nor the lab, which was contracted to handle testing during last year's anthrax scare, has been identified. The lab worker was in the hospital for five days, but recovered.

Including the Texas case, the CDC said 23 anthrax cases have been confirmed since Oct. 3.