Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Mar 14;3(1):33.
doi: 10.3390/tropicalmed3010033.

A Tool for Assessment of Animal Health Laboratory Safety and Biosecurity: The Safety Module of the Food and Agriculture Organization's Laboratory Mapping Tool

Beatrice Mouillé  1 , Gwenaelle Dauphin  2 , Lidewij Wiersma  3 , Stuart D Blacksell  4   5 , Filip Claes  6 , Wantanee Kalpravidh  7 , Youssouf Kabore  8 , Sharon Hietala  9
Affiliations

A Tool for Assessment of Animal Health Laboratory Safety and Biosecurity: The Safety Module of the Food and Agriculture Organization's Laboratory Mapping Tool

Beatrice Mouillé et al. Trop Med Infect Dis. .

Abstract

The Laboratory Management Tool (LMT) is a standardized spreadsheet-based assessment tool developed to help support national, regional, and global efforts to maintain an effective network of animal health and veterinary public health laboratories. The safety and biosecurity module of the LMT (LMT-S) includes 98 measures covering administrative, operational, engineering, and personal protective equipment practices used to provide laboratory safety and biosecurity. Performance aspects of laboratory infrastructure and technical compliance considered fundamental for ensuring that a laboratory is able to appropriately function in a safe and biosecure manner are systematically queried and scored for compliance on a four-point scale providing for a semi-quantitative assessment. Data collected is used to generate graphs and tables mapping levels of compliance with international standards and good practices, as well as for documenting progress over time. The LMT-S was employed by trained auditors in 34 laboratories located in 19 countries between 2015 and 2017. The tool is intended to help standardize animal health laboratory assessments, document compliance with recognized laboratory safety and biosecurity measures, serve as a self-help and training tool, and assist global laboratory development efforts by providing an accurate measurement of laboratory safety and biosecurity at local, national, and regional levels.

Keywords: animal health; biosafety; biosecurity; laboratory assessment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Example of results of an LMT-S assessment conducted in region B.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Radar graph comparing an initial (blue line) and post-intervention assessment (red line).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. OIE ad hoc Group on Biosafety and Biosecurity in Veterinary Laboratories . World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Biosafety and Biosecurity: Standard for Managing Biological Risk in the Veterinary Laboratory and Animal Facilities—Chapter 1.1.4 (NB: Version Adopted in May 2015) World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals; Geneva, Switzerland: 2017. [(accessed on 30 November 2017)]. Available online: http://www.oie.int/en/international-standard-setting/terrestrial-manual/...
    1. FAO Animal Production and Health FAO to Release Laboratory Mapping Tool on the Web. [(accessed on 30 November 2017)]; Available online: http://www.fao.org/ag/againfo/programmes/en/empres/news_130514.html.
    1. World Health Organization (WHO) Laboratory Biosafety Manual. 3rd ed. WHO; Geneva, Switzerland: 2004. [(accessed on 30 November 2017)]. Available online: http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/biosafety/en/Biosafety7.pdf.
    1. World Health Organization (WHO) Biorisk Management: Laboratory Biosecurity Guidance. [(accessed on 30 November 2017)];2006 Available online: http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/biosafety/WHO_CDS_EPR_2006....
    1. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) In: Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL) 5th ed. Chosewood L.C., Wilson D.E., editors. Centers for Disease Control; Taipei, Taiwan: 2009. [(accessed on 30 November 2017)]. Available online: http://www.cdc.gov/biosafety/publications/bmbl5/