Biosafety and biosecurity are an integral part of quality laboratory systems. The Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL), in partnership with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are providing tools and resources to strengthen biosafety and biosecurity in public health and clinical laboratories
As recently demonstrated by the recent Ebola and Zika virus outbreaks, it is essential that governmental public health laboratories have the capacity to safely work with high consequence and emerging pathogens and provide appropriate guidance to private clinical laboratories. Following are biosafety and biosecurity resources developed or compiled by APHL
APHL’s Role in Biosafety and Biosecurity
To address the issues raised by the response to Ebola, the CDC provided funds to state, local, and territorial laboratories via the Domestic Ebola Supplement to Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases (ELC). The goal of this funding is strengthen the biosafety and biosecurity programs in individual public health labs, and in turn have public health laboratories provide support to strengthen biosafety and biosecurity in clinical laboratories.
APHL is:
- Serving as subject matter experts to assist public health laboratories with strengthening biosafety and biosecurity capacity. This encompasses developing and providing guidance and tools including biosafety training to public health laboratories, and developing a community of practice for public health biosafety professionals.
- Improving laboratory coordination and outreach to ensure a more robust public health system capable of safely responding to all threats. This encompasses providing tools to assist public health laboratories with outreach to clinical laboratories and direct engagement of key clinical partners.
- Promoting policies to strengthen biosafety and biosecurity. This encompasses educating key policy makers and implementing the position statement, Improving Biosafety in Our Nation’s Laboratories.
- Establishing a Biosafety and Biosecurity Committee with representatives from public health laboratories, private clinical laboratories and partner organizations, and other biosafety experts.
Biosafety and Biosecurity Committee
- Collaborates with the CDC to evaluate and assist public health laboratories
- Develops and promotes a culture of safety within public health and clinical laboratories
- Develops tools and collaborates with APHL to host them within an online repository
- Designs and delivers a biosafety and biosecurity training curriculum
- Promotes a community of practice to generate collaboration among biosafety officers
For more information, contact Brit Hart, MS, manager, Biosafety and Biosecurity at
brit.hart@aphl.org or
240.485.2702.
Training Resources
Training opportunities (webinars, courses, conferences) for biosafety and biosecurity
Additional Resources
Organizations, associations and federal programs offering resources, regulations, certifications or guidance pertinent to enhancing a laboratory's biosafety and biosecurity program
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