Access Control
& Security Systems

The Associated Press reports that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will release detailed guidelines requiring tighter security at scientific laboratories that handle "select agents," (42 pathogens and toxins considered to pose the greatest threat to public health).

The new rules reportedly will require every lab to register with the CDC and undergo inspections. Additionally, background checks of anyone working with select agents, increased monitoring of areas where pathogens are stored, and ways to keep pathogens safely secured will be required.

Steve Ostroff, deputy director of the CDC's Nation Center for Infectious Disease said that in the past, lab security was geared toward biosafety -- protecting the people who work with the toxins. He also said that typical security controls, such as inventory monitoring, don't work for biological agents that can multiply in lab conditions.

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