Table 3.
Estimated Reported Occupational Exposure Incidents While Handling Cultures or Processing Specimens for the Detection of Francisella tularensis: 2011–2015.
| Year | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | Total | |
| Human specimens | ||||||
| Positive cultures in clinical laboratoriesa | 67 | 75 | 70 | 78 | 95 | 385 |
| Occupational exposure incidentsb | 29 | 37 | 24 | 20 | 20 | 130 |
| Incidents/100 isolates handled | 43.3 | 49.3 | 34.3 | 25.6 | 21.1 | 33.8 |
| Cultures handled in reference laboratoriesc | 139 | 152 | 140 | 164 | 216 | 81 |
| Occupational exposure incidentsb | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Incidents/100 isolates handled | 0 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0 | 0.4 |
| Animal specimens | ||||||
| Positive cultures in veterinary laboratoriesa | 7 | 17 | 7 | 9 | 18 | 58 |
| Occupational exposure incidentsb | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Incidents/100 isolates handled | 0 | 5.9 | 14.3 | 11.1 | 16.7 | 10.3 |
| Necropsies performed | 2 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 26 | 43 |
| Occupational exposure incidentsb | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Incidents/100 necropsies | 100 | 20 | 25 | 16.7 | 3.8 | 14.0 |
a
Data abstracted from submitted Form 4s.
b
Incident is defined as a Form 4 with occupational exposure noted.
c
Estimated based on observation that reference laboratories handled the cultures submitted by the clinical laboratory (N = 385) and made a subculture (N = 385) prior to performing confirmatory tests. They also cultured clinical specimens (N = 41) that were received from hospitals and clinics.