New Delhi, Aug 12 - With swine flu cases spiraling accross the country, India Wednesday issued the following guidelines to private laboratories for conducting H1N1 tests:

General bio-safety measures: Gloves (latex), shoe cover, head cover, goggles, triple layered mask, mask with N-95 specification, front closed full length apron, puncture resistant auto-clavable yellow coloured bio-safety bag with bio-safety symbols, hypochlorite solution.

Civil infrastructure: Separate dedicated areas for sample handling and testing.

Sample collection kit: Throat/nasal swab with synthetic cup and aluminum or plastic shaft sample collection vials or tubes (leak proof) of 1-3 ml.

Sample storage: Refrigerator (4-8 degree Celsius) for storage up to 48 hours. Deep freeze (-70 degrees C) for longer storage.