Every now and then you read about an incident involving a powder letter in the news. A recent example is the letter addressed to the French Minister of the Interior in which (possibly) Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes the plague, was found. The unstamped, misdirected letter was intercepted at the postal sorting center and examined by the alerted authorities. The letter contained a dark, powdery substance.

What do you think when you read such a news item? It is logical that you wonder what you would do if you received a letter with a strange substance in it. But do you also wonder where the powder with – in the case of this news item – (possibly) plague bacteria came from? If your laboratory was working with Yersinia pestis, would you check the inventory to see if it was still complete? Do you mentally consider whether a colleague has behaved ‘differently’? In short, do you think about biosecurity and your laboratory when you read such a news item? Because as unlikely as it may seem that it originated from your lab: transmitted plague bacteria come from somewhere. But where? And what do you do?

This scenario underlines the importance of a well-designed biosecurity policy in laboratories. If you want to do more, you can look at the following points of attention:
•    Is there attention for biosecurity in your organization?
•    Are biosecurity protocols implemented in your lab around inventory management and personnel screening?
•    Are the lab staff trained to implement these protocols?

Sharing Your Scenario?

If you would like to discuss how to handle this scenario with the Biosecurity Office or if you have encountered a biosecurity scenario that you would like to share with colleagues in the field, please feel free to contact us. The Biosecurity Office can be reached at [ignore]biosecurity@rivm.nl[/ignore].