Who has the authority to designate influenza A (H2N2) a biosafety level 3 (BSL3) agent?
Biosafety levels for different substances are determined through a risk assessment of working with the organism in a laboratory. A group of experts convenes to do this and the resulting decisions are published in the CDC/NIH publication, Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL). Over the past year, a group of flu experts from government and academia have discussed the risk assessment for various strains of influenza, including human H2N2 viruses. A revised BMBL manual is scheduled for release in the fall of 2005 and will include a recommendation that such strains of flu be worked with using BSL3 practices, procedures, and facilities with enhancements. CDC will work with NIH to publish interim recommendations for work with flu strains that have the potential for a pandemic.
Related Questions
- I need more time to gather some documentation prior to requesting that my file goes to the Final Authority level for determination. How do I request an extension to the 90-day time limit?
- Can the same person hold multiple roles in PARIS? Can an authority designate more than one person for any particular role?
- How do I setup different user accounts and different level of authority?
