The U.S. National Authority for Containment of Poliovirus is requiring research institutions to identify laboratories that possess poliovirus-containing materials. To help the University of Iowa (UI) fulfill this requirement, EHS biosafety staff distributed a poliovirus containment survey to UI laboratories in June. Links to the survey were sent to laboratory Principal Investigators (PIs) or Core Facility Directors via email on June 4, 2024.
We ask that each PI/Director complete the survey for their laboratory or designate a knowledgeable laboratory member to complete the survey on their behalf, if they have not already done so. While you may not work with poliovirus, the virus may be present in clinical and environmental materials collected from areas where polio was endemic, or at a time when the live virus vaccine was in use, whether collected for purposes directly related to polio or not. Therefore, we are required to receive a response from each laboratory. Thank you for doing your part in support of poliovirus eradication and containment.
If you need to complete the survey for your lab but no longer have the survey link, please send a request to ehs-biosafety@uiowa.edu to request the link.