AAFP Acts Promptly to Notify Labs Affected by Flu Virus Scare

Some 144 family physician office labs enrolled in the AAFP Proficiency Testing program are among the more than 4,400 laboratories in 18 countries caught up in a potentially hazardous situation involving lab proficiency test kits. The kits include strains of a flu virus that killed millions worldwide between 1957 and 1968 before vanishing from circulation.

According to the CDC, persons born after 1968 have little or no immunity to the strain. Thus, working with the H2N2 virus contained in the kits theoretically poses a health risk to laboratory staff born after 1968 and their contacts.

To read a statement on the CDC Web site, visit "WHO Statement on Distribution of a H2N2 Influenza Virus for Lab Testing."

Barbara Mitchell, AAFP proficiency testing manager, said she received notification from the CDC on April 12 that influenza A/H2N2 virus had been identified in proficiency testing kits sent to the labs by Meridian Bioscience Inc. Meridian has supplied the AAFP-PT program -- launched 15 years ago as a quality improvement tool for FPs -- with PT samples for more than 10 years. Meridian sends the test kits directly to physician labs.

Mitchell said AAFP-PT staff began notifying affected labs via faxes marked "Urgent" on April 13. Laboratory managers were instructed to destroy any remaining samples they had and to submit documentation to the AAFP-PT program confirming they had done so, said Mitchell. As a precaution, program staff will follow up with phone calls, she added.

Samples were shipped to AAFP member labs in March and April, said Mitchell. Lab personnel have about three weeks to complete proficiency tests and return results to AAFP-PT. "We are past that deadline, so I presume most of the samples have been used and presumably destroyed," said Mitchell. There is a risk, however, that unused portions of samples "are sitting in the back of some lab's refrigerator."

"My concern is that some people are holding onto these samples for training and educational purposes," said Mitchell. Under normal circumstances, such actions would not pose a risk, she said.

AAFP President Mary Frank, M.D., of Mill Valley Calif., addressed the issue in a statement posted on the AAFP Web site. Visit "AAFP Statement on Distribution of H2N2 Influenza Virus Strain for Lab Testing at AAFP Proficiency Testing Sites" to read Frank's comments.

"While the risk that the samples could cause a widespread flu outbreak is very low, the safety of the public is our primary concern, and the AAFP is acting on the recommendations from the CDC to address this issue," Frank said.

The CDC recommends laboratory staff take these steps: