U.S. Poliovirus Containment

At a glance

The U.S. National Authority for Containment of Poliovirus (U.S. NAC) implements poliovirus containment within United States facilities. The U.S. NAC’s mission is to minimize the risk of facility-associated poliovirus release. The U.S. NAC strongly encourages any U.S. facility to destroy unneeded or nonessential materials containing poliovirus in alignment with its minimal risk policy.

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Implementation

In 2018, the U.S. National Authority for Containment of Poliovirus (U.S. NAC), located within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø), was designated by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to implement a poliovirus containment certification program to minimize facility-associated risk of personnel exposure or release of infectious materials following eradication of wild polioviruses and cessation of oral polio vaccine use. 

U.S. poliovirus containment survey

Beginning in December 2018, the U.S. NAC launched an online survey to reach all U.S. facilities that may retain poliovirus materials including those working with biological and wastewater materials. The survey builds on national surveys conducted in 2002 and 2015. The current survey represents an ongoing evaluation of the poliovirus inventory in the United States.

Keep Reading: U.S. Poliovirus Containment Survey

Poliovirus-Essential Facilities

All facilities that continue to handle and store wild and vaccine-derived poliovirus types 1, 2, 3, and oral polio vaccine type 2 infectious materials must be certified as a poliovirus-essential facility (PEF) to retain these materials. Poliovirus-essential facilities serve critical national and international functions. Those functions include vaccine production, vaccine testing, public health and virologic research, and diagnostics.

The U.S. NAC strongly encourages any U.S. facility to destroy unneeded or nonessential materials containing poliovirus. All facilities retaining poliovirus will require certification as a PEF.

U.S. Poliovirus containment requirements include:

  • Facility risk management
  • Biosecurity
  • Engineering controls
  • Community population immunity
  • Local sanitation standards

Accomplishments

Identify

  • 16,700+ Laboratories represented by surveys received*

Destroy

  • 230,000+ Vials/Containers of PV materials destroyed*

Transfer

  • 2400+ Vials/Containers of PV materials transferred to U.S. PEFs**

Audit

  • 85+ Consultations, intro. visits, site visits, and assessments conducted*

Contain

  • 7 U.S. PEFs with eradicated PV PEFs reduced from 30 to 7*

Policy

  • 13 Guidance and Policies developed*

Respond

  • 3 Polio outbreak simulation exercise participated in by U.S. NAC*

*Data as of August 2023

**Data as of July 2022

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