Abstract
The Department of Health and Human Services, in partnership with other Departments and Agencies of the Executive Branch, has announced a national wild poliovirus inventory of all biomedical laboratories that may possess wild poliovirus infectious or potential infectious materials. The inventory is scheduled to begin October 2002. Responses are due December 31, 2002.
The national inventory alerts laboratories to the anticipated successful eradication of polio and encourages destruction of all unneeded wild poliovirus materials. Laboratories that retain poliovirus materials will be placed on the national inventory and kept informed of eradication progress and when to implement containment procedures.
This paper summarizes information from the WHO Global Action Plan for Laboratory Containment of Wild Polioviruses (WHO, 2002) and the U.S. Strategy for Implementing Phase I of the Global Action Plan: The National Inventory (DHHS, 2002). Additional information can be accessed at the Poliovirus Laboratory Containment Preparedness web site, www.cdc.gov/od/nvpo/polio.