ANNEX 4 
page 2 
III. MAXIMUM CONTAINMENT LABORATORIES 
1. The term "Maximum Containment Laboratory" (MCL) should be used to describe 
the physical facilities for work with highly hazardous microorganisms. 
2. The responsibilities of the working group should include: 
a) A listing of agents to be contained: - natural pathogens 
- novel genetic combinations 
b) A summary of critical physical requirements 
c) An inventory of existing "MCL" laboratories and those under construction, 
providing the following information: 
- physical description and age 
- staffing 
- kind of activity 
- potential availability to others 
- user evaluation of present facility 
d) An inventory of existing operational procedures and safety programmes 
e) To plan and conduct a workshop to review and disseminate the collected 
data . 
IV. DEVELOPMENT OF EMERGENCY SERVICES 
1. The working group should develop and provide emergency guidelines for the 
isolation and treatment of people accidentally contaminated with infectious 
agents or genetic recombinants. They should also be concerned with newly- 
recognized pathogens. The emergency guidelines should provide for both 
transport- and laboratory-associated accidents and emergencies. These guidelines 
would be available to national health authorities for adoption or development of 
their own emergency procedures. 
2. The guidelines should enable health authorities to: 
a) Recognize whether an accidental exposure has really occurred. 
b) Define the nature of the infective agent. 
c) Find out whether contamination of people and animals has occurred and 
provide for their complete isolation. 
d) Raise additional questions in cases of exposure to recombinants, 
i.e. is the agent one with an easily recognizable biological projection? 
Should contaminated animals be destroyed? Should people be considered 
as contagious and be isolated? etc. 
e) Set up the necessary measures of decontamination. 
f) Make available on an emergency basis diagnostic reagents, vaccines and 
inraune sera. 
3. Members of the working group will provide on request information in response 
to the emergency situations outlined in this paper until such time as the 
emergency guidelines are completed and published. 
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