CDC Poliovirus Facility Earns Certification

The Global Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication (GCC) recently endorsed an Interim Certificate for Containment (ICC) to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

This endorsement marks a pivotal moment in the global campaign to eradicate poliovirus, signifying the international community’s recognition of the CDC’s commitment to ensuring the safe and secure containment of infectious and potentially infectious poliovirus materials.

This marks the second step of a three-step process outlined in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Containment Certification Scheme for the CDC to obtain the final certificate of containment. Earning an ICC is a significant stride towards fortifying the CDC’s efforts in poliovirus containment.

“We are excited to receive this recognition of the CDC poliovirus essential facility (PEF), one of the largest PEFs supporting the global polio eradication campaign. I am incredibly proud of all who are part of the CDC PEF. This great achievement of attaining the ICC would not have been possible without the dedication, expertise, and countless hours of hard work from our amazing CDC staff,” said Victoria Olson, PhD, Deputy Director of the Office of Laboratory Science and Safety and CDC PEF Top Management Representative.

The GCC has only certified eight ICCs worldwide: in the USA, Canada, France, and the Republic of Korea. There are a total of four ICC endorsements in the Region of the Americas, two in Canada and two here in the United States.

“This is a significant step towards global poliovirus eradication and demonstrates the United States’ commitment to enhancing biosafety and biosecurity oversight of facilities with poliovirus materials,” shared Dr. Lia Haynes-Smith, Director at U.S. National Authority for Containment of Poliovirus (NAC) and National Poliovirus Containment Coordinator.

Since 2018, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has designated CDC as the U.S. National Authority for Containment of Poliovirus (U.S. NAC). The U.S. NAC is responsible for minimizing the risk of poliovirus release in the United States by effectively implementing and overseeing the WHO’s poliovirus containment plan.

As part of the plan, all facilities that handle and store wild polioviruses and oral polio vaccine type 2 must be certified as PEFs. PEFs serve critical national and international functions. For example, they perform public health research, produce and test vaccines, and perform diagnostic testing to support the continued eradication of all polioviruses.

In 2018, the CDC’s PEF received its first “Certificate of Participation.” A Certificate of Participation is the beginning of the formal certification process and CDC represented the first laboratory endorsed in the United States. A PEF maintains their certificate, and their ability to handle and/or store poliovirus by instituting stringent biosafety and security measures.

As of March 2024, the U.S. NAC granted ICC certification for the CDC and one other facility in the United States. “CDC continues to be a leader in containment. CDC requested an independent, WHO-qualified expert to lead the ICC audit. This means CDC has been audited to a very high level. The independent audit provides assurance of impartiality, to the global community, that GAP containment requirements have been met,” said Christy Ottendorfer, PhD, U.S. NAC Senior Science Advisor and Lead Auditor.