Tissue transplantation therapy, which has been utilised for over 50 years , is a rapidly developing field carrying with it great promise for ameliorating or curing many diseases. One of its drawbacks, however, is the potential for donor-to-recipient disease transmission. This risk is greatly reduced by excluding donors at risk of carrying infection and by testing the donor for transmissible infectious disease. Aseptic surgical technique in a quality environment, when removing the tissue from the donor, when processing and storing the tissue and during implantation is critically important to prevent bacterial and fungal contamination. Non-viable tissue grafts such as bone can undergo disinfection and sterilisation steps. During the past two decades the disease transmission risk associated with tissue transplantation has been greatly reduced by implementation of standards set by professional organisations, such as the American Association of Tissue Banks , the European Association of Tissue Banks (EATB) , the Eye Bank Association of America , and governmental regulations. However, the incidence of transplant-transmitted infection is unknown and the studies needed to determine this have not been performed.