Check for poliovirus samples in practice freezers, GPs urged
Potentially infectious materials must be destroyed or stored securely to meet commitment to global eradication efforts, says CSIRO
Australia’s national science agency is calling on GPs to check their practice freezers for any biological samples that may contain poliovirus.
Australia has officially been polio free since 2000.
But as part of global eradication efforts, CSIRO is conducting a national inventory survey of GP clinics, hospitals, pathology labs, wastewater and sewerage facilities, and research institutes to identify and locate any “potentially infectious materials” still remaining (see link below).
Its research director Professor Bev Muhlhausler said these materials could be in the form of human faecal, respiratory and concentrated sewage samples.
