Attachment 10 Telephone Script

Attachment #5

[Contact and Lab Info]

[Date]

Re: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Performance Evaluation Program for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis ) and Non-tuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM) Drug Susceptibility Testing

Dear [Contact Name]:

We are pleased you have chosen to enroll your laboratory in the CDC’s Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Non-tuberculous Mycobacteria Drug Susceptibility Testing Performance Evaluation Program. Your laboratory has been assigned the TPEP Number: [number]. Please use this number when communicating with us about the program.

This program is designed to allow you to assess your laboratory's susceptibility testing process for strains of M. tuberculosis and NTM.

Laboratories will receive

• four M. tuberculosis and

• one NTM strain, if applicable.

Cultures should be handled in accordance with Biosafety Level 3 practices outlined in the enclosed CDC Biosafety Manual, 4^th Edition (1999).

Culture shipments will be sent twice per year [usually January and June]. You will receive a letter approximately six weeks prior to shipment delivery notifying you of the shipment date. Some institutions require delivery of all incoming biological specimens to a mail room or central receiving area in a different location from their address. If this is the policy in your institution, please arrange for timely delivery of the specimens to your laboratory.

For questions regarding scheduled panel shipments or results form please contact:

Project Coordinator

Contractor to be determined

Street Address

City, State Zip Code

Toll free -xxx. xxx. xxxx (US only) or xxx-xxx-xxxx

Thank you again for your interest and support of this important public health initiative.

Sincerely yours,

Sandra W. Neal, B.S., MT (ASCP), M.S., Project Officer

Division of Laboratory Systems, NCID, CCID

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

1600 Clifton Rd. NE (MS-G23)

Atlanta, GA 30333