CDC Contracts with SRA International for Select Agent Monitoring

The CDC’s Division of Select Agents and Toxins has awarded SRA International a $24.9 million contract to provide laboratory support services to the Select Agent Program. Awarded in September of 2008, the five-year contract is a recompete of work the company has supported since 2002 through the acquisition of Constella Group. Under the contract, SRA will continue to help CDC track the possession, use, and transfer of select agents in the U.S. The company's work includes registering and inspecting facilities that use, store, or transport select agents; certifying that proper biosafety and biosecurity measures are in place in the laboratories; processing select agent transfer requests; tracking all shipments of select agents between registered facilities; and assisting CDC with administering the Etiologic Agent Import Permit Program, which helps control the import of agents or vectors of human disease into the U.S. Under the new contract, SRA will increase its support for CDC operations and also manage and control all records and data associated with the Select Agent Program.