Chinese expert consensus on biosafety management of highly pathogenic fungi: culture preservation, transport, inactivation, and disposal

Blastomyces dermatitidis, Coccidioides species, Histoplasma species, and Paracoccidioides species are classified as Category II pathogenic microorganisms under China’s Catalogue of Pathogenic Microorganisms Transmissible to Humans. These dimorphic fungi produce aerosolizable spores at ambient temperature, persist in the environment for prolonged periods, and convert in vivo to pathogenic tissue forms, creating specific biosafety risks during culture storage, transport, inactivation, and disposal. Existing national regulations set out broad principles but lack technical specifications tailored to fungal biology. The Fungal Study Group of the Dermatology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, together with multidisciplinary experts, reviewed Chinese and international regulations, standards, and literature and used a modified Delphi process to establish consensus. Nine recommendations were formulated, covering BSL-3 laboratory prerequisites, culture storage and inventory management, periodic verification and disposal of expired strains, intra- and inter-institutional transport, inactivation and disposal of materials, emergency response to equipment failure, power outage, and culture spills, and post-exposure medical management. This is the first operational technical document in China to address culture preservation, handling, transport, disposal, risk management, and emergency response for highly pathogenic fungal strains, translating statutory requirements into practical, fungus-specific, auditable, verifiable, and traceable procedures for qualified laboratories.

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Publication Details

Journal
Mycology&#58 An International Journal on Fungal Biology
Published
2026-11-07
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/21501203.2026.2732335
Primary Topic
Fungal Infections and Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Chinese expert consensus on biosafety management of highly pathogenic fungi: culture preservation, transport, inactivation, and disposal

Wenqiang Chang, 巴剑波, Zhongsheng Tong, Palida Abulizi et al.
Mycology&#58 An International Journal on Fungal Biology
Fungal Infections and Studies
article

Chinese expert consensus on biosafety management of highly pathogenic fungi: culture preservation, transport, inactivation, and disposal

Wenqiang Chang, 巴剑波, Zhongsheng Tong, Palida Abulizi, Guojian Liao, Hong Zhang, Mingwei Du, Zhiyong Zong, 曹存巍, Peng Xue, Yuanwei Zhang, 冉玉平, Guanghua Huang, Jie Gong, 侯学新, Lv Quanzhen, Bing Gu, 朱照琴, Meng Xiao, 徐英春, Chao Zhuo, Xiaochun Xue, Liyan Xi, Min Chen, Hui Li, Weihua Pan, Shan Hu, Peiying Feng, Li Han, Fangwei Zheng, Xiaopeng Mei, Meng Fu, Linqi Wang, Xiaowen Wang, Wenjuan Wu, Ningning Liu, Hua Zhang, Heping Xu, Huaiqiu Huang, Sha Lu, Haibin Wu, Weiwei Jiang, Shuwen Deng, Jianhua Yin, Wenjie Fang, Ruoyu Li, Jian Guo, Liru Wang, Jian Liu, Fuqiu Li, Wanqing Liao, Hongfang Liu, Min Zhu, Qiangqiang Zhang, Bilin Dong, Xin Huang, Ruibing Chen, Yingqian Kang, Bin Xu, Keming Zhang, Xia Yang, Xinyao Liu, Xiaowei Qu, Shouzhen Wu, Bo Pan, Ning Liu, Zehu Liu, Wei Liu, Lin Zhou, Ruilin Ma, Weiwei Wu, Hua Yu, Xun Huang, Ying Wang, Yanping Jiang, Bingyang Liu, Xiaofeng Hang, Yan Cui, Ping Zhan, Shanshan Li, Li Wang, Yanan Xu, Yingping Lin, Hailin Tang, Xun Zhou
article en

Abstract

Blastomyces dermatitidis, Coccidioides species, Histoplasma species, and Paracoccidioides species are classified as Category II pathogenic microorganisms under China’s Catalogue of Pathogenic Microorganisms Transmissible to Humans. These dimorphic fungi produce aerosolizable spores at ambient temperature, persist in the environment for prolonged periods, and convert in vivo to pathogenic tissue forms, creating specific biosafety risks during culture storage, transport, inactivation, and disposal. Existing national regulations set out broad principles but lack technical specifications tailored to fungal biology. The Fungal Study Group of the Dermatology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, together with multidisciplinary experts, reviewed Chinese and international regulations, standards, and literature and used a modified Delphi process to establish consensus. Nine recommendations were formulated, covering BSL-3 laboratory prerequisites, culture storage and inventory management, periodic verification and disposal of expired strains, intra- and inter-institutional transport, inactivation and disposal of materials, emergency response to equipment failure, power outage, and culture spills, and post-exposure medical management. This is the first operational technical document in China to address culture preservation, handling, transport, disposal, risk management, and emergency response for highly pathogenic fungal strains, translating statutory requirements into practical, fungus-specific, auditable, verifiable, and traceable procedures for qualified laboratories.

Mycology&#58 An International Journal on Fungal Biology
Tongji University (CN), Central South University (CN), Southwest University (CN), Guiyang Medical University (CN), Army Medical University (CN), Nanjing Normal University (CN), Shandong University (CN), Chongqing University (CN), Second Military Medical University (CN), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN), Chinese Center For Disease Control and Prevention (CN), Xiamen University (CN), Jilin University (CN), Nantong University (CN), Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College (CN), Peking University (CN), Sichuan University (CN), Fudan University (CN), China University of Mining and Technology (CN), First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University (CN), University of Jinan (CN), Yinchuan First People's Hospital (CN), Yanan University Affiliated Hospital (CN), Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital (CN), First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University (CN), Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (CN), People's Hospital of Kaizhou District (CN), Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University (CN), Wuhan No.1 Hospital (CN), Changhai Hospital (CN), Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital (CN), First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University (CN), Third People's Hospital of Hangzhou (CN), First Hospital of Jilin University (CN), First Affiliated Hospital of GuangXi Medical University (CN), Shanghai East Hospital (CN), Shenyang Fifth People Hospital (CN), Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences (CN), Ningxia Medical University General Hospital (CN), Second Affiliated Hospital of Jilin University (CN), Seventh People's Hospital of Shanghai (CN), National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention (CN), Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University (CN), Chinese People's Liberation Army (CN), First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University (CN), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Shenzhen Bao'an District Songgang People's Hospital (CN), Nanchang Medical College (CN), Jining Medical University (CN), Southern Medical University (CN), Air Force Medical University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Science and Technology Major Project, National Key Research and Development Program of China
Good health and well-being
Openalex Percentile: Top 14%
Fungal Infections and Studies
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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