[Histonet] Ebola

Thu Oct 9 16:56:41 CDT 2014

We tried very hard not to do CJD cases if we could help it, as I recall any suspect cases were sent to Case Western Reserve, i worked with someone there who developed a protocol using strong formic acid, it was amazing how good the tissue preservation was using formic acid as a fixative.  I heard about possible cases in our histo dept at the u where they ended up throwing away microtomes and other instruments who might have come in contact with CJD tissue, crazy, wasn't my department so I was not up on all the details.

Patsy Ruegg, HT(ASCP)QIHC
Ruegg IHC Consulting
40864 E Arkansas Ave
Bennett, CO 80102
H 303-644-4538
C 720-281-5406
pruegghm <@t> hotmail.com
pruegg <@t> ihctech.net

From: JWatson <@t> gnf.org
To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu; SFinley <@t> providencehealth.bc.ca
Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2014 21:31:38 +0000
Subject: RE: [Histonet] Ebola
CC: 

Correction,  due to years of formalin abuse,  it was 1 hour in concentrated formic acid.  We then processed and cut them with all other cases.  A few cases slipped through with just formalin fixation and additional precautions needed to be taken.  That said the easiest  and primary route of infection for CJD is ingestion.  Needless to say we did not eat any of the tissue.

A simple and effective method for inactivating virus infectivity in formalin‐fixed tissue samples from patients with Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease 

Paul Brown, MD, 
 Axel Wolff, DVM and 
 D. Carleton Gajdusek, MD

-Show Affiliations

Laboratory of CNS Studies, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD. 

doi: 10.1212/WNL.40.6.887  Neurology June 1990   vol. 40  no. 6  887  

Abstract
Full Text (PDF)

Abstract 

We fixed brains from hamsters infected with scrapie virus in (1) formalin, (2) phenol-saturated formalin, (3) formalin with a 1-hour immersion in formic acid, or (4) phenol-saturated formalin with a 1-hour immersion in formic acid. In addition, we used the formalin-formic acid procedure on brains from mice infected with the virus of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Formic acid proved superior to phenol in respect to both disinfection and tissue preservation, almost completely eliminating virus infectivity in sections that were histologically indistinguishable from formalin-fixed material. The inclusion of a formic acid step in routine formaldehyde tissue fixation will thus provide histologic sections of excellent quality, and virtually eliminate the risk of handling infectious material in the subsequent neuropathologic processing of tissues from patients with CJD. 
© 1990 by the American Academy of Neurology

James Watson HT  ASCP
GNF  Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation
Scientific Technical Leader II, Histology
Tel    858-332-4647
Fax   858-812-1915
jwatson <@t> gnf.org

-----Original Message-----
From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu [mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of James Watson
Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2014 1:57 PM
To: 'Emily Brown'
Cc: Histonet <@t> Lists. Edu
Subject: RE: [Histonet] Ebola

Back in the 80 NIH did extensive studies on CJD,  their protocol requires 24 hours in formalin, 24 hours in formic acid, followed by 48 hours in formalin, then paraffin processing.  Worked with CJD at Frederick Cancer Research in collaboration with the group from NIH.  If I find the publications I will forward them.

James Watson HT  ASCP
GNF  Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation Scientific Technical Leader II, Histology Tel    858-332-4647 Fax   858-812-1915 jwatson <@t> gnf.org

-----Original Message-----
From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu [mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Emily Brown
Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2014 1:40 PM
Cc: Histonet <@t> Lists. Edu
Subject: Re: [Histonet] Ebola

If formalin didn't kill CJD, what did you use? Just curious.

Emily

"By bitching and bitching and bitching, they could exhaust the drama of their own horror stories. Grow bored. Only then could they accept a new story for their lives. Move forward."

-Chuck Palahniuk, "Haunted"

On Thu, Oct 9, 2014 at 4:34 PM, Patsy Ruegg <pruegghm <@t> hotmail.com> wrote:

> Well said Pam, it is just assumed that formalin will eliminate the 
> biohaz for Ebola, I doubt if that has been conclusively proven yet, 
> remember we only discovered fairly recently that formalin fixation did 
> not protect us from CJD!!!!
>
> Patsy Ruegg, HT(ASCP)QIHC
> Ruegg IHC Consulting
> 40864 E Arkansas Ave
> Bennett, CO 80102
> H 303-644-4538
> C 720-281-5406
> pruegghm <@t> hotmail.com
> pruegg <@t> ihctech.net
>
>
> > Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2014 20:26:16 +0000
> > From: mucram11 <@t> comcast.net
> > To: TanyaAbbott <@t> catholichealth.net
> > Subject: Re: [Histonet] Ebola
> > CC: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
> >
> > Take Brett's advise and use that as guidleine.  We don't know as 
> > much as
> we should about these viruses.   Pam
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> >
> > From: "Tanya Abbott" <TanyaAbbott <@t> catholichealth.net>
> > To: "Histonet" <histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu>
> > Sent: Thursday, October 9, 2014 2:03:47 PM
> > Subject: [Histonet] Ebola
> >
> > Dare I ask?! Are any Pathology labs discussing what to do with
> specimens/precautions, etc. regarding a person with a potential Ebola 
> infection?
> >
> > Tanya G. Abbott RT (CSMLS)
> > Manager Technologist, Histology/Cytology St. Joseph Medical Center 
> > Reading, PA 19603-0316 ph  610-378-2635 fax 610-898-5871
> > email: tanyaabbott <@t> catholichealth.net
> >
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