Kentucky Department for Health Services rabies shipping containers are to be used for shipping brains and heads of rabies suspects. These containers ARE NOT TO BE USED for any other purposes. Containers may be obtained through your local county health department. When tissues are collected during a postmortem examination it is usually advisable to submit fresh, refrigerated tissues in seperate labeled containers and other tissues fixed in 10 percent buffered phosphate formalin. Then add 400 ml 37 percent formaldehyde.
Proper fixation requires that the tissues be sliced into one-half inch slices.
The volume and weight to be submitted can be reduced by allowing the tissues to fix in the formalin for twelve hours. Good fixation requires the use of a large-mouth container with a closed lid containing nine volumes of fixative per one volume of tissue. After twelve hours fixation time, the tissues can be trimmed to even smaller sections and transferred to a smaller container containing equal parts fresh ten percent buffered formalin and tissue. Liberal quantities of refrigerant should be packed with fresh tissues. The use of sealed metal or plastic containers with ice or another frozen fluid is a preferred method of submission.