title: Establishing a national biological laboratory safety and security monitoring program.
abstract: The growing concern over the potential use of biological agents as weapons and the continuing work of the Biological Weapons Convention has promoted an interest in establishing national biological laboratory biosafety and biosecurity monitoring programs. The challenges and issues that should be considered by governments, or organizations, embarking on the creation of a biological laboratory biosafety and biosecurity monitoring program are discussed in this article. The discussion focuses on the following questions: Is there critical infrastructure support available? What should be the program focus? Who should be monitored? Who should do the monitoring? How extensive should the monitoring be? What standards and requirements should be used? What are the consequences if a laboratory does not meet the requirements or is not willing to comply? Would the program achieve the results intended? What are the program costs? The success of a monitoring program can depend on how the government, or organization, responds to these questions.
authors.affiliation: Division of Select Agents and Toxins, Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA.
authors.forename: James W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Blaine
mesh_terms: D023482:Bioterrorism / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003264:Containment of Biohazards / Q000592:standards; D005161:Facility Regulation and Control; D033161:Government Regulation; D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000458:organization & administration; D017751:Safety Management / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D012637:Security Measures / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000458:organization & administration