The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has recently conducted risk assessments on HIV and HTLV-1 in collaboration with an Ad hoc group of HIV and HTLV-1 experts. These risk assessments determined that HIV and HTLV-1 remain Risk Group 3 (RG3) human pathogens; however, the containment requirements for working with these viruses could be reduced from Containment Level 3 (CL3) to CL2, with the use of additional operational practices, while maintaining the same level of safety. To address this change in containment requirements, PHAC has developed a Biosafety Directive for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Human T-cell Lymphotropic Virus Type 1 (HTLV-1) which provides a comprehensive overview of the updated containment level requirements for laboratories working with HIV and HTLV-1. It is important to note that the Biosafety Directive for HIV and HTLV-1 is to be utilized in conjunction with the Canadian Biosafety Standards and Guidelines (CBSG) 1st edition.
The Biosafety Directive for HIV and HTLV-1 is now available on our website (http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/lab-bio/res/bio-dir-eng.php). If working with HIV or HTLV-1, it is now your responsibility to comply with this directive in conjunction with the Canadian Biosafety Standards and Guidelines (CBSG) 1st edition.
For more information contact the Biosafety Standards and Guidelines Team: standards.normes@phac-aspc.gc.ca