A case of poliovirus was detected in the state of New York in July 2022. According to CDC, the United States has been polio-free since 1979, thanks to a successful vaccination program. The ABSA Emerging Infectious Diseases Committee has compiled the following resources for laboratory safety and occupational health.

The U.S. National Authority for Containment of Poliovirus (NAC) at the CDC would like to share additional information regarding containment of poliovirus.

  • Refer to the WHO guidance for working with potentially infectious materials (PIM) that may contain poliovirus when performing diagnostic work or testing wastewater samples.
  • If procedures call for the extraction of nucleic acids, see the reference below for information on inactivation methods effective for poliovirus.
  • Destroy specimens or transfer to a poliovirus-essential facility (PEF) when testing is complete.
    • Wild poliovirus type 2 (PV2) was declared eradicated by WHO in 2015 and wild type 3 in 2019. All PV2 and PV3 infectious material should be handled and retained in a PEF holding a Certification of Participation endorsed by the U.S. NAC and the Global Certification Commission.
    • Autoclaving or incineration are preferred destruction methods for destroying poliovirus.
    • Transfer of poliovirus materials should be reported to the NAC.

Contact the NAC at poliocontainment@cdc.gov with questions about infectious poliovirus and PIM or visit our website at https://www.cdc.gov/cpr/polioviruscontainment/index.htm

To determine if you possess infectious or potentially infectious materials you can refer to the GAPIII definitions and examples. If you have materials that meet these definitions, contact the U.S. National Authority for Containment of Poliovirus at poliocontainment@cdc.gov or 404-718-5160 and your local/state health department.

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4/3/2024

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