Transport of microbiological specimens to a tropical communicable disease center.

In 1977 the State of Bahia, Brazil, completed renovation of the State Public Health Central Laboratory in connection with a Federal Ministry of Health program designed to create 17 new laboratories in health posts throughout the state. The central laboratory was to provide auxiliary diagnostic support for the small local laboratories. The state epidemiologic service also required central diagnostic facilities to deal with specimens from the interior of the state. In connection with this program, it was necessary to devise a system for transporting specimens that would keep pathogenic microorganisms viable for two or more days without refrigeration at temperatures of up to 30°C. No standard system for transporting specimens was available. Systems used elsewhere, such as those in the United States (I, 2), provided potentially useful models; but these models needed modification to allow for long-distance transport, usually by public bus, from laboratories lacking facilities for preparing or storing complex