Research Article

Guidelines for Biosafety in Teaching Laboratories Version 2.0: A Revised and Updated Manual for 2019

Published: 2019-1

Journal: Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education

DOI: 10.1128/jmbe.v20i3.1975

Abstract

The originalGuidelines for Biosafety in Teaching Laboratorieswere developed in 2012 in response to an outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium tracked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that originated from clinical and teaching microbiology laboratories. In the 7 years since the publication of the guidelines, there have been two subsequent CDC-reportedSalmonellaoutbreaks originating from clinical and teaching microbiology laboratories. Use of and issues with the guidelines by ASM members have been tracked by various means since publication, and in 2018 it became apparent that an update of the guidelines was necessary. The Education Board of the American Society for Microbiology charged this task force with updating the guidelines based on the accumulated information. While the guidelines should look familiar, users will find that the originally separate BSL1 and BSL2 guidelines have been rolled into one document, to help eliminate redundancy and confusion. In addition, sections on risk assessment and service animals in the teaching laboratory have been added. These updated guidelines should help clarify many of the issues for which users expressed problems with the original guidelines.

Faculty Members

  • Jeffrey J. Byrd - Department of Biology, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, St. Mary’s City, MD 20686
  • Elizabeth Emmert - Department of Biological Sciences, Salisbury University, Salisbury, MD 21801
  • Robert Maxwell - Department of Biology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30303
  • Heather Townsend - Department of Biology, Community College of Rhode Island, Newport, RI 02840

Themes

  • User Feedback and Usability Improvements
  • Response to Public Health Outbreaks
  • Risk Assessment in Laboratory Settings
  • Biosafety in Teaching Laboratories
  • Guideline Development and Update

Categories

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