Seven staff members at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center were taken to a hospital Tuesday morning after experiencing eye irritation, officials said.
The employees reported symptoms during a routine autoclave run around 9 a.m., according to Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Brad Lake. All seven were evaluated at a hospital and later released.
Lake said the staff members were “feeling fine” by Tuesday afternoon.
The Plum Island Animal Disease Center, which opened in 1954, researches highly contagious animal diseases. Its operations are being transferred to a new federal facility in Kansas.