MMWR. Recommendations and reports : Morbidity and mortality weekly report. Recommendations and reports / Centers for Disease Control

This report provides interim biosafety guidelines for preventing laboratory-associated infections with agents that cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. The guidelines are based on extensive laboratory experience with the other hantaviruses--particularly work involving the use of permissive host animal species--and on the limited experience with a hantavirus recently isolated from deer mice. The guidelines address handling patient-derived specimens, propagating viruses in culture (including viral concentrate preparations), and housing and handling infected animals. These recommendations were developed with the assistance of expert consultants during a meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Subcommittee on Arbovirus Laboratory Safety, November 2, 1993, in Atlanta.INFECTIOUS DISEASEDIAGNOSISCURREN