smallpox – NIH Director's Blog (original) (raw)

Promoting Health, Science, and Public Trust through Laboratory Safety

Posted on August 27th, 2014 by Drs. Francis Collins, Sally Rockey, Lawrence Tabak, and Amy Patterson

As you may know from recent news reports, there have been lapses in safety practices at federal laboratories involving potentially lethal microbes such as avian flu (H5N1) and anthrax, including an incident involving discovery of 60-year old smallpox vials in an FDA laboratory building located on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) campus in Bethesda, MD. Such lapses, which undermine public confidence in biomedical research and could put people’s health at risk, remind us of the need for constant attention to biosafety standards.

Scientists can never become complacent in routine safety practices—one mistake could have serious repercussions. Consequently, we at NIH are taking remedial action and precautionary steps to improve our lab safety protocols and procedures, minimize the risk of recurrence, and increase timely reporting of potential problems.

Posted In: Health, Science, Training

Tags: anthrax, avian flu, biosafety, Guide Notice, H5N1, health and safety standards, infectious agents, laboratory, National Biosafety Stewardship Month, NIH grantees, research conduct, safety, smallpox