Update: Potential Exposures to Attenuated Vaccine Strain Brucella abortus RB51 During a Laboratory Proficiency Test-- United States and Canada, 2007.

The article presents an update to an article in the November 2007 issue where New York State Department of Health officials notified the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of possible exposures to a vaccine strain of Brucella abortus RB51 which is used to vaccinate cattle against brucellosis in several clinical laboratories which participated in a Laboratory Preparedness Survey (LPS) proficiency test. As of January 14, 2008, no cases of brucellosis related to these exposures had been reported to the center. Exercises such as LPS which are designed to test skills and procedures in laboratories are one of the few that tests a laboratory's response to bioterrorism agents.