Some of the agents that cause a biosecurity concern are listed by the United States Government through the US Select Agent List.
Some of these agents are zoonotic agents, meaning they can infect both humans and animals, while others are agents that can only infect one of humans, animals or plants.
The list of select agents as updated in December 2012 is as follows:
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HHS SELECT AGENTS AND TOXINS |
OVERLAP SELECT AGENTS AND TOXINS USDA SELECT AGENTS AND TOXINS USDA PLANT PROTECTION AND QUARANTINE (PPQ) SELECT AGENTS AND TOXINS |
Some agents that are inactive forms of select toxins may be excluded from the requirements of the Select Agent Regulations but can be accessed using the following link: http://www.selectagents.gov/Select%20Agents%20and%20Toxins%20Exclusions.html. Some examples of agents that are excluded from the list include:
- Low pathogenic strains of avian influenza virus
- South American genotype of eastern equine encephalitis virus
- West African monkeypox viruses
- Any strain of Newcastle disease virus that is not virulent
- All subspecies of Mycoplasma capricolum except capripneumoniae (causes contagious caprine pleuropneumonia)
- All subspecies of Mycoplasma mycoides except mycoides small colony (causes contagious bovine pleuropneumonia)
- Any subtypes of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus except for subtypes IAB or IC
- Vesicular stomatitis virus (exotic) including Indiana subtypes VSV-IN2, VSV-IN3
Sources
- http://www.selectagents.gov/Select%20Agents%20and%20Toxins%20List.html
- www.who.int/foodsafety/fs_management/No_01_Biosecurity_Mar10_en.pdf
- www.who.int/…/WHO_CDS_EPR_2006_6.pdf
- www.americanprogress.org/…/…CURITY_A_COMPREHENSIVE_ACTION_PLAN.PDF
- http://books.sipri.org/files/misc/SIPRI09HAB.pdf
Further Reading
- All Biosecurity Content
- Biosecurity – What is Biosecurity?
- Animal Biosecurity
- Biosecurity Challenges
- Biosecurity Incident List
Last Updated: Feb 26, 2019
Written by
Dr. Ananya Mandal
Dr. Ananya Mandal is a doctor by profession, lecturer by vocation and a medical writer by passion. She specialized in Clinical Pharmacology after her bachelor's (MBBS). For her, health communication is not just writing complicated reviews for professionals but making medical knowledge understandable and available to the general public as well.
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