US Officials Relax Guidance For Labs Handling Avian Flu Samples To Simplify Virus Response

Reuters (5/14, Steenhuysen) reports, “U.S. government officials have temporarily relaxed strict guidelines on how public health laboratories and healthcare facilities handle, store and transport H5N1 bird flu samples, which are considered high-risk pathogens, in response to the recent spread of the virus to dairy cattle.” The new guidance modifies “requirements for handling H5N1 under federal select agent and toxin regulations for a period of 180 days. They apply to state and local government-run public health labs as well as labs that handle wastewater specimens, which are being used to help track the virus.”