Pravin N. Bhatt, Dr. P.H. 
Old Amity Road 
Bethany, Connecticut 06525 
November 19, 1979 
Dr. Donald S. Fredrickson 
Director, National Institutes of Health 
Building 1, Room 124 
Bethesda, Maryland 20014 
Dear Dr. Fredrickson: 
I am writing this letter in view of my personal capacity as a scientist. 
I also happen to be a member of ASM, AAI, IDSA, ASTMH and a faculty mem- 
ber at Yale University School of Medicine. 
I want to endorse the motion passed by the National Institutes of Health 
Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee at its September 6-7, 1979, meeting 
regarding lowering the containment level for certain experiments. 
At the same time, I believe that it is high time NIH, with the help and 
expertise of some of the above-mentioned organizations, formulate realis- 
tic safety guidelines for work involving infectious agents. A great deal 
of research is conducted with NIH support and, I believe, NIH has an ob- 
ligation to see that adequate safety precautions are taken during the 
conduction of research involving infectious agents. 
I am aware that CDC is about to publish a classification of human patho- 
gens and containment levels to be used for work involving such agents. 
NIH should endorse such a document. Since there are no published guide- 
lines for research with animal, insect and plant pathogens carried out 
with NIH support, I believe an overall safety program is needed. 
With regards. 
Yours sincerely. 
Pravin N. Bhatt, Dr. P.H. 
Senior Research Virologist 
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