Acceptance letter

Acceptance Letter

[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 Drug Susceptibility Testing (MTB/NTM DST)

Dear [Contact Name]:

We are pleased that you have chosen to enroll your laboratory in the CDC’s MTB/NTM DST 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/or

• one NTM strain, if applicable.

Cultures should be handled in accordance with Biosafety Level 3 practices outlined in the CDC Biosafety Manual, 5^th Edition (2007). http://www.cdc.gov/OD/ohs/biosfty/bmbl5/bmbl5toc.htm

Culture shipments will be sent twice per year [usually January and June]. You will receive an email approximately four 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:

Angela Ragin, Ph.D., Project Officer

1600 Clifton Road

Atlanta, GA 30333

Toll free 1-888-465-6062 (US only) or 404 498-2241

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

Sincerely yours,

Angela Ragin, PhD Project Coordinator NCPDCID/DLS Mailstop G-23, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Ph: 404 498-2241 Fx: 404 498-2215 email: aragin@cdc.gov

Sandra W. Neal, B.S., MT(ASCP), M.S., P.M.P. Project Manager NCPDCID/DLS Mailstop G-23, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Ph: 404 498-2238 Fx: 404 498-2215 email: sneal@cdc.gov