Incomplete tissue product tracing during an investigation of a tissue-derived tuberculosis outbreak.

In the United States, there is currently no system to track donated human tissue products to individual recipients. This posed a challenge during an investigation of a nationwide tuberculosis outbreak that occurred when bone allograft contaminated with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Lot A) was implanted into 113 patients in 18 US states, including 2 patients at 1 health care facility in Colorado. A third patient at the same facility developed spinal tuberculosis with an isolate genetically identical to the Lot A outbreak strain.

Nationwide tuberculosis outbreak in the USA linked to a bone graft product: an outbreak report.

Background: Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmission through solid organ transplantation has been well described, but transmission through transplanted tissues is rare. We investigated a tuberculosis outbreak in the USA linked to a bone graft product containing live cells derived from a single deceased donor.

Methods: In this outbreak report, we describe the management and severity of the outbreak and identify opportunities to improve tissue transplant safety in the USA.

Risk of Transmissibility From Neurodegenerative Disease-Associated Proteins: Experimental Knowns and Unknowns.

Recent studies in animal models demonstrate that certain misfolded proteins associated with neurodegenerative diseases can support templated misfolding of cognate native proteins, to propagate across neural systems, and to therefore have some of the properties of classical prion diseases like Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The National Institute of Aging convened a meeting to discuss the implications of these observations for research priorities. A summary of the discussion is presented here, with a focus on limitations of current knowledge, highlighting areas that appear to require further investigation in order to guide scientific practice while minimizing potential exposure or risk in the laboratory setting.

Assessment of risk of variant creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) from use of bovine heparin.

Purpose: In the late1990s, reacting to the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the United Kingdom that caused a new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in humans, manufacturers withdrew bovine heparin from the market in the United States. There have been growing concerns about the adequate supply and safety of porcine heparin. Since the BSE epidemic has been declining markedly, the US Food and Drug Administration reevaluates the vCJD risk via use of bovine heparin.

Potential sexual transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi in mice.

Infection with the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of human Chagas disease, results in life-long infection. Infective trypomastigotes circulate in the bloodstream and have the capacity to infect any cell type, including reproductive tissue. This study sought to assess the potential for sexual transmission of T.

Report of the clinical donor case workshop of the European Association of Tissue Banks Annual Congress 2013.

The European Association of Tissue Banks (EATB) Donor Case Workshop is a forum held within the program of the EATB Annual Congress. The workshop offers an opportunity to discuss and evaluate approaches taken to challenging donor selection and donation ethics, and it strengthens networking between tissue banking professionals. The workshops actively engage participants from a wide array of international expertise, in an informal, secure and enjoyable setting in which learning from peers and finding potential solutions for submitted cases are facilitated.

Trypanosoma cruzi survival following cold storage: possible implications for tissue banking.

While Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, is typically vector-borne, infection can also occur through solid organ transplantation or transfusion of contaminated blood products. The ability of infected human cells, tissues, and cellular and tissue-based products (HCT/Ps) to transmit T. cruzi is dependent upon T.

A quantitative polymerase chain reaction test to enumerate leukocytes in allograft tissue and the implications for donor eligibility testing.

A country-to-country analysis of infectious disease screening requirements for donated tissues or cells reveals they are not often harmonized. Transmission of one such infectious disease, human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV), is related to the transfer of HTLV-infected, viable leukocytes of sufficient number. The ability to characterize allograft tissue as being absent of leukocytes, or containing relatively few leukocytes, by using a specific test has not been previously investigated.

Report of the clinical donor case workshop of the European Association of Tissue Banks annual meeting 2012.

The European Association of Tissue Banks (EATB) donor case workshop is a forum held within the program of the EATB annual congress. The workshop offers an opportunity to discuss and evaluate approaches taken to challenging situations regarding donor selection, it promotes consensus development in deciding tissue donor acceptability when donor health issues are not addressed in standards and regulations, and serves to strengthen the professional tissue banking networks across Europe and beyond. This report reflects some of the discussion at the workshop during the annual congress in Vienna in 2012.

West Nile Virus workshop: scientific considerations for tissue donors.

This report contains selected excerpts, presented as a summary, from a public workshop sponsored by the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) held to discuss West Nile Virus (WNV) and scientific considerations for tissue donors. The daylong workshop was held 9 July 2010 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel at Tyson's Corner in McLean, Virginia, United States (U.S.

Results of the clinical donor case and quality system case workshops of the European Association of Tissue Banks annual meeting 2009.

The European Association of Tissue Banks (EATB) Donor Case Workshop and Quality System Case workshop are forums held within the program of the EATB Annual Congress. These workshops offer an opportunity to discuss and evaluate approaches taken to challenging situations, regarding donor selection and quality issues, and strengthen the professional tissue banking and regulatory networks across Europe. This report reflects some of the discussion at the congress workshops and also subsequent correspondence between the various individuals who submitted cases for discussion.

Interpretive conundrum on the exclusion criterion of "transplantation with xenografts" for tissue and cell donation.

In the context of the EU Directives for human tissues and cells (2004/23/EC, 2006/17/EC and 2006/86/EC) further interest has arisen on the practical application of a few clauses. One such aspect, for the evaluation phase of a potential donor, is the interpretation of the exclusion criterion "transplantation with xenografts." This article outlines the consensus viewpoints regarding the earlier evaluation of the risks related to xenotransplantation and describes the current status of the terminology and recommendations/laws in several healthcare sectors.

Coding and traceability: cells and tissues in North America.

Cell and tissue banking professionals in North America have long understood the value of labeling their allografts with descriptive names that make them easily recognized. They have also understood that advantages exist in possessing the capability to track them internally and externally to better understand tissue handling from donation through distribution. An added insight that can assist with strategic planning is to know who uses them, how many, and for what purpose or application.