Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Correspondence
  • Published:

Networking for BSL-3/4 laboratory scientist training

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 7, page 756 (2009)Cite this article

In addition to previous descriptions of infectious-disease networks by Head and colleagues (Networking for infectious disease. Nature Rev. Microbiol. 6, 328 (2008))1 and Ippolito and colleagues (Networking for infectious-disease emergencies in Europe. Nature Rev. Microbiol. Jul 2008 (doi:10.1038/nrmicro1896-c1))2, we would like to highlight a new European course for biosafety level (BSL)-3/4 training.

Biosecurity practices cannot be built without a strong safety culture and it is therefore generally agreed that training should be a precondition for starting work in specialized, safety- and security-sensitive BSL-3/4 laboratories. However, training of this kind is rarely available on an organized level and is mainly performed in a traditional laboratory culture of individual training. The steady rise in the number of people who work in BSL-3/4 laboratories may inflate the potential for accidents, as has been seen in the United States in recent years. Therefore, as an addition to the individual training, organized training is absolutely necessary and indeed has been announced as obligatory in the United States3. The European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) is a European intergovernmental framework that allows the coordination of nationally funded research. COST Action B28, 'Array technologies for BSL-3 and BSL-4 pathogens', has created and financed a new training school Göttingen for laboratory scientists, providing a focused introduction to the principles and regulations that are important for work in a BSL-3/4 environment. In the European Union, there seems to be just one comparable — but commercial — course, offered by the Health Protection Agency in the United Kingdom.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Head, M., Hayward, A. & Johnson, A. Networking for infectious disease. Nature Rev. Microbiol. 6, 328 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Ippolito, G., Nisii, C. & Capobianchi, M. R. Networking for infectious-disease emergencies in Europe. Nature Rev. Microbiol. 6, Jul 2008 (doi: 10.1038/nrmicro1896-c1).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Le Duc, J. W. et al. Framework for leadership and training of Biosafety Level 4 laboratory workers. Emerg. Infect. Dis. 14, 1685–1688 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Kimman, T. G., Smit, E. & Klein, M. R. Evidence-based biosafety: a review of the principles and effectiveness of microbiological containment measures. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 21, 403–425 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Commission of the European Communities. Green paper on bio-preparedness. EUR-Lex [online], (2007).

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge funding from the European Community Framework Programme FP7 through the European Cooperation in Science and Technology Action B28, 'Array technologies for BSL-3 and BSL-4 pathogens'.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Manfred Weidmann and Frank Hufert are at the University Medical Center Göttingen, Institut für Virologie, Kreuzbergring 57, Göttingen, 37075, Germany.,

    Manfred Weidmann & Frank Hufert

  2. Mandy Elschner is at the Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Naumburger Straße 96a, Jena, 07743, Germany.,

    Mandy Elschner

  3. Nigel Silman is at the Health Protection Agency, Centre for Emergency Preparedness & Response, Porton Down, Salisbury, SP4 0JG, UK.,

    Nigel Silman

  4. Ali Mirazimi is at the Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Center for Microbiological Preparedness, Solna, SE-171 82, Sweden.,

    Ali Mirazimi

  5. Francesc Morejón de Girón is at the Centre of Research on Animal Health, Barcelona, 08193, Spain.,

    Francesc Morejón de Girón

  6. Department of Bacteriology and Immunology, Patrick Butaye is at the Veterinary and Agrochemical Research Centre, Groeselenberg 99, Brussels, B-1180, Belgium.,

    Patrick Butaye

Authors
  1. Manfred Weidmann
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Frank Hufert
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mandy Elschner
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Nigel Silman
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Ali Mirazimi
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Francesc Morejón de Girón
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Patrick Butaye
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Manfred Weidmann.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Weidmann, M., Hufert, F., Elschner, M. et al. Networking for BSL-3/4 laboratory scientist training. Nat Rev Microbiol 7, 756 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro1896-c2

Download citation

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro1896-c2

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing