The National Institutes of Health Generally Complied With Federal Requirements for the Preparation and Receipt of Select Agent Shipments

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is one of several Federal agencies that ship and receive select agents. In 2015, another Federal agency found that one of its facilities had inadvertently shipped live Bacillus anthracis, a select agent which causes the deadly disease anthrax, to 194 laboratories in the United States and other countries. In response to these events, we initiated a review of the policies, procedures, and protocols NIH implemented to ensure the safe shipment of select agents to and from its laboratories.