Using the IATA flowchart, how is the Zika virus sample classified?

• A. Category B
• B. UN 3373
• C. Non-infectious
• D. Category A

Answer: (A)

The flowchart differentiates infectious substances based on how the material is being shipped: a diagnostic or clinical specimen that may contain an infectious substance but is not a cultured high‑risk pathogen goes into Category B, while a known high‑risk culture or pathogen falls into Category A. A Zika virus sample that is being shipped as a diagnostic clinical specimen to a lab fits the Category B path. It may contain the virus, but it isn’t a cultured high‑risk material requiring the more strict Category A packaging. So the appropriate classification is Biological substance, Category B, which corresponds to UN 3373. The higher-risk Category A would apply only if the sample were a known high‑risk infectious substance or culture. A non‑infectious designation isn’t correct because the specimen is infectious in nature.