Coordination - CDC, the Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Postal 
Service have discussed the proposed revisions of our respective regulations. 
The resultant regulations will be complementary to the extent possible and 
should cause a minimum of confusion for the user. The final regulations will 
contain unambiguous definitions and clear instructions. 
Education - Once the revised regulations are published, there will be a 
nationwide effort to inform the using public of their intent. To this end, a 
publication will be prepared that gives clear instructions for compliance with 
all of the regulations. The publication will be widely distributed so as to 
reach those who ship, handle, and receive such material. Distribution will 
include professional groups, laboratories, and manufacturers and distributors 
of packaging materials. 
Training - Training materials will be prepared covering the proper packaging 
and handling of etiologic agents and made available to anyone who packs, 
ships, receives, or otherwise handles such material. 
Reporting - The current regulation requires that packages of etiologic agents 
have a label advising those who observe damage or leakage to call CDC. This 
requirement will be reemphasized in the proposed education effort. As it is, 
handlers and receivers of damaged packages have an incentive to report them to 
CDC, and our records indicate that they do. In reality, these are the only 
people who are in a position to see and report these incidents. 
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