Immunization 



Vaccines are available for several agents to which diagnostic virology personnel might be exposed. The Lab 

 Safety Manual for the Center for Disease Control has published detailed recommendations on the use of these 

 vaccines which should be followed by any laboratory doing diagnostic virology'. It is recommended that those 

 individuals working with rabies virus be vaccinated and then checked to insure they have a neutralizing antibody 

 response. 



Preparation of Susceptible Cell Culture 



In diagnosing viral disease it is mandatory that cell cultures are not contaminated with non-cytopathogenic 

 viruses. If possible cell cultures should be prepared in a separate laboratory by different personnel. If only one 

 laboratory is available, cell cultures should be prepared in a separate room with a different air supply or in a clean 

 laminar flow hood. As a last choice a clean bench area may be used in the laboratory at a time when virus infected 

 material is not being processed. If primary cultures are used, the tissues should be from healthy animals and cultures 

 should be checked for latent virus infection before use. If serum is used in the culture, it should be filtered and 

 checked for virus before use. Fetal bovine serum is often contaminated with bovine virus diarrhea virus. 



Viral Isolation in Experimental Animals 



In vitro isolation, techniques should be used whenever possible. Some procedures, such as arbovirus isolation, 

 require animal inoculation. All the precautions that have been described for laboratory work must also be used for 

 animal areas. Limiting personnel movement and immunizations are of particular importance. Even more stringent 

 control must be used, because the animals may excrete large amounts of virus. Exhaust-air from animals cages or 

 rooms should be passed through biological filters. All droppings, bedding, etc. should be incinerated. If post mortem 

 of the animal is required, precautions should be taken to prevent aerosols. All dead animals should be incinerated. If 

 they must be moved to another building for incineration, closed disinfected containers should be used. It may be 

 possible to autoclave the tissues from small animals and then take them elsewhere for disposal. All potentially 

 infected tissues or animals must be disposed of within the laboratory. Rendering companies should not receive 

 tissues from infected laboratory animals. 



In summary, the supervisor of a diagnostic virology laboratory must continually maintain the biological safety 

 and security required for the procedures being accomplished. He must insure that workers in the laboratory are 

 protected against infection with human pathogens. Potentially hazardous or exotic viral agents must not be released 

 into the environment. To obtain dependable results, virus isolation procedures must be protected from laboratory 

 contamination. 



REFERENCES 



1. Anonymous. Biologard Control and Containment in Oncogenic Virus Research. U.S. Dept. of Health, 

 Education and Welfare, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md., 1970. 



2. Lab Safety at the Center for Disease Control. U.S. Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare. 



Public Health Service, Health Services, and Mental Health Administration, Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, 

 Ca. 30333., 1972. 



3. Classification of Etiologic Agents on the Basis of Hazard. Department of Health, Education 



and Welfare, Health Services and Mental Health Administration, Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, Ga. 

 30333., 1972. 



4. Rundle, R. S., and Phillips, G. B. (1969) Microbial Contamination Control Facilities, Van Nostrand Reinhold 

 Company, N.Y. 



5. Shapton, D. A. and Board, R. G. Safety in Microbiology Academic Press, N.Y., 1972. 



6. Songer, J. R., Braymen, D. T., Mathis, R. G., and Monroe, J. W. The Practical Use of Formaldehyde Vapor for 

 Disinfection. Health Laboratory Science 9: 46-55, 1972. 



7. Sullivan, J. N. Biological Security and Environmental Pollution. Proceedings 75th Annual Meeting, U.S. 

 Animal Health Association 75: 536-541, 1971. 



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