Applying samples to FTA micro cards for safe shipping: transcript

Key points

• The video is a guideline and does not replace a host institution's rules for handling infectious materials.
• Work with live virus is done in a class 2B biological safety cabinet, and the tube, card and bag are labeled with matching IDs.
• 210 microliters of tissue culture is heated at 70 degrees Celsius for 4 minutes, vortexing every minute, to help inactivate the virus.
• 200 microliters is spotted onto the card in a concentric circular motion, not in a single spot, and dried for about one hour without heat.
• Dried cards go into separate labeled bags with desiccant, and the outside of each bag is decontaminated.
• Cards are stored at minus 20 or 4 degrees Celsius for no more than five business days, then shipped as a Category B biological substance.

Chapters

1. 0:00Purpose and scope of the training
2. 0:34Equipment and materials needed
3. 1:19Safety cabinet and labeling
4. 2:20Pipetting and heat treatment of the sample
5. 4:08Spotting the card and drying
6. 5:32Bagging the dried card
7. 6:14Storage and shipping

Full transcript

0:00This is a transcript with proper punctuation. This video serves as a guideline and is not meant to supersede the rules and procedures of any host institution. Please follow the standard operating procedures for handling infectious materials designated by your host institution. In this training program, you will learn the proper techniques and processes needed to apply a sample to FTA microcards.

0:34Following this procedure allows the FTA cards to be shipped safely. For this procedure you will need the following. Personal protective equipment, FTA cards, a pipetter and barrier pipette tips, a dry heat block set to 70 degrees Celsius, a timer or clock, micro centrifuge tubes with a tray a pen to write on the samples a biological waste container a sealable plastic bag with desiccant insert An option is using a multibarrier pouch in addition to the plastic bag.

1:19You need the sample to be applied, a test tube tray or holding area for the sample, a vortex, and a centrifuge for microfuge tubes capable of reaching 2,000 Gs. Because you are working with live viruses, the following steps should be done using the precaution of a biological safety cabinet class 2B. the first step is remove the FTA card from the packaging label one 1.7 milliliter microfuge tube with lid label one FTA card and one plastic bag for each specimen label them with the epi ID number this is the patient sample or

2:20environmental ID number if it's an environmental specimen and the lab ID number taken from the sample container IDs will vary by WHO region confirm that the identifiers on the microfuge tube the FTA card and the plastic bag match the information on the sample tube Next, set your pipetter to 210 microliters, and using a sterile barrier pipette tip, pipette the 210 microliters of tissue culture from your sample tube into the labeled microcentrifuge tube. Incubate the tube at 70 degrees centigrade for 4 minutes. Vortex every minute. This is

3:26facilitate inactivation of the virus before spotting the card. At the end of the heat treatment, briefly centrifuge the tube to remove any droplets from the cap. Place the heat treated sample into a rack. Next, set your pipettor to 200 microliters.

4:08And using a sterile barrier pipette tip, withdraw the 200 microliters of tissue culture from the microcentrifuge tube. Spot the sample in a concentric circular motion and eject the old pipette tip into a biohazard waste container and discard the empty microfuge tube into the biohazard container.

4:48Please note, do not discharge the sample in a single spot. Next, allow the sample to dry for about one hour at room temperature. Do not heat the sample on the FTA card. You can make a triangle with the card to facilitate the drying process. The drying process may take less time or more time depending on the temperature and humidity of the lab. The cards must be completely dry in order to be non-infectious. Repeat the procedure for any more samples that you wish to process. While the samples are drying, please properly discard your gloves and apply new ones for the next steps of the procedure.

5:32Next, place the dried card in a labeled plastic bag with a desiccant insert and seal the bag. If preferred, you can place the card and a desiccant insert into a multi-barrier pouch. Just make sure the desiccant will fit into the pouch along with the dried card. Seal the pouch and place the sealed pouch into the labeled plastic bag and then seal the bag.

6:14If you are processing more than one sample, place each card into a separate labeled plastic bag. Decontaminate the outside of the plastic bag with appropriate disinfectant prior to storage. Do not combine the cards into a single bag. For storage, place the card in a freezer set at minus 20 degrees or a refrigerator set at 4 degrees Celsius.

6:51Please note that minus 20 degrees Celsius is the ideal storage condition. For shipping, wearing clean gloves, place the cards in a regular shipment container and ship it as a Category B biological substance at room temperature. These specimens on the FTA cards are non-infectious as long as all the steps in this procedure have been followed. Remember, do not store the cards at minus 20 degrees Celsius or 4 degrees Celsius for longer than five business days before shipping.

Source and licence

Recording: File:FTA Micro Card -Sample Application.webm by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018-05-15), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The transcript is machine speech-to-text by the TidyTools Audio & video transcriber; the summary, key points and chapters were written by Claude from that transcript. Both may contain errors: check the recording before quoting it.