QIAGEN N.V. (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) announced today that it welcomed a decision by the U.S. Centers for Disease control (CDC) to require the use of modern blood-based tests (IGRA) for tuberculosis (TB) screening.

QIAGEN’s QuantiFERON-TB® Gold Plus (QFT-Plus®), the gold standard and market leader among IGRA tests, has been experiencing significant interest in immigration health surveillance around the world, and is expected to be used even more in the United States as a result of this decision.

The CDC Division of Global Migration and Quarantine provides the Department of State (DOS) and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) with TB medical screening guidelines (referred to as Technical Instructions) for both Civil Surgeons and Panel Physicians.

The CDC recently issued a notification to all U.S. Civil Surgeons stating that it currently plans for the new changes to medical screening guidelines to go into effect on October 1, 2018, requiring the use of FDA-approved interferon gamma release assay (IGRA) tests for tuberculosis. The use of the tuberculin skin test (TST) will no longer be allowed for use in immigration screening, including children under age 5.

The USCIS receives and adjudicates approximately six million petitions and applications annually from individuals and employers. Currently, more than one million people receive permanent lawful residence in the U.S. annually, of which approximately half are living in the U.S.. Immigration medical examinations conducted inside the U.S. must be performed by a Civil Surgeon who has been designated by USCIS. The medical examination is a required component of the application process for permanent residence. (https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-studies/immigration-forms-data)

Please find the full press release here

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