US aligns hazardous transport rules with international standards
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
The US government has altered its rules for the transportation of infectious substances so they will better conform to existing international standards. The US Department of Transportation (DoT) said its August 14 2002 final rule is consistent with the World Health Organization's risk-based classification system for infectious substances and the United Nations and International Civil Aviation Organization technical standards. But the DoT decided to add one further item to the list of infectious substances subject to the rule: prions - proteinaceous infectious particles implicated as a cause of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.