Protecting Privacy of Health Information, a Global Perspective.

The expanded use of data is part of healthcare transformation that is underway in most countries around the world. While transformation is good for the advancement of healthcare, it presents new challenges for health information professionals. It is critical that the privacy of individual health information be protected throughout the transformation process.

The use of bacteriophage MS2 for the development and application of a virucide decontamination test method for porous and heavily soiled surfaces.

Aims: (i) To develop an analytical method for recovery and quantification of bacteriophage MS2-as a surrogate for foot-and-mouth disease virus-from complex porous surfaces, with and without the presence of laboratory-developed agricultural grime; (ii) to evaluate, with a 4-log dynamic range, the virucidal activity of common biocides for their ability to decontaminate surfaces and hence remediate facilities, following a foreign animal disease contamination incident.

Methods And Results: An analytical method was developed and optimized for MS2 recovery from simulated agricultural surfaces. The addition of Dey-Engley neutralizing broth to an extraction buffer improved MS2 viability in liquid extracts, with optimal analytical holding times determined as <8 to ≤24 h, depending on matrix.

Dry thermal resistance of Bacillus anthracis (Sterne) spores and spores of other Bacillus species: implications for biological agent destruction via waste incineration.

Aims: To obtain needed data on the dry thermal resistance of Bacillus anthracis spores and other Bacillus species for waste incinerator applications.

Methods And Results: Tests were conducted in a pilot-scale incinerator utilizing biological indicators comprised of spores of Geobacillus stearothermophilus, Bacillus atrophaeus and B. anthracis (Sterne) and embedded in building material bundles.