Biosecurity
Encyclopedia
Biosecurity is a set of preventive measures designed to reduce the risk of transmission of infectious disease
Infectious disease
Infectious diseases, also known as communicable diseases, contagious diseases or transmissible diseases comprise clinically evident illness resulting from the infection, presence and growth of pathogenic biological agents in an individual host organism...

s, quarantined pests, invasive alien species
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....

, living modified organisms. While biosecurity does encompass the prevention of the intentional removal (theft) of biological materials from research laboratories, this definition is narrower in scope than the definition used by many experts, including the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. These preventative measures are a combination of systems and practices put into its place at legitimate bioscience laboratories to prevent the use of dangerous pathogens and toxins for malicious use, as well as by customs agents and agricultural and natural resource managers to prevent the spread of these biological agents in natural and managed. Reference no. 123 ecosystems. Although security is usually thought of in terms of "Guards, Gates, and Guns", biosecurity encompasses much more than that and requires the cooperation of scientists, technicians, policy makers, security engineers, and law enforcement officials.

Components of a laboratory biosecurity program include:
  • Physical security
  • Personnel security
  • Material control & accountability
  • Transport security
  • Information security
  • Program management

Animal biosecurity

Animal biosecurity is the product of all actions undertaken by an entity to prevent introduction of disease agents into a specific area. Animal biosecurity differs from biosecurity which are measures taken to reduce the risk of infectious agent theft and dispersal by means of bioterrorism.
Animal biosecurity is a comprehensive approach, encompassing different means of prevention and containment. A critical element in animal biosecurity, biocontainment, is the control of disease agents already present in a particular area, and works to prevent novel transmissions. Animal biosecurity may protect organisms from infectious agents or noninfectious agents such as toxins or pollutants, and can be executed in areas as large as a nation or as small as a local farm.

Animal biosecurity takes into account the epidemiological triad for disease occurrence: the individual host, the disease, and the environment in contributing to disease susceptibility. It aims to improve nonspecific immunity of the host to resist the introduction of an agent, or limit the risk that an agent will be sustained in an environment at adequate levels. Biocontainment, an element of animal biosecurity, works to improve specific immunity towards already present pathogens.

Biosecurity means the prevention of the illicit use of pathogenic bioorganisms by laboratory staff or others.
Biosafety means the protection of laboratory staff from being infected by pathogenic bioorganisms.

Challenges

The destruction of the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...

 in Manhattan on September 11, 2001 by terrorists, and subsequent wave of anthrax attacks
2001 anthrax attacks
The 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States, also known as Amerithrax from its Federal Bureau of Investigation case name, occurred over the course of several weeks beginning on Tuesday, September 18, 2001, one week after the September 11 attacks. Letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to...

 on U.S. media and government outlets (both real and hoax
Anthrax hoaxes
Anthrax hoaxes involving the use of white powder or labels to falsely suggest the use of anthrax are frequently reported in the United States and globally. Hoaxes have increased following the 2001 anthrax attacks, after which no genuine anthrax attacks have occurred. The FBI and U.S...

), led to increased attention on the risk of bioterror attacks in the United States. Proposals for serious structural reforms, national and/or regional border controls, and a single co-ordinated system of biohazard
Biohazard
Biohazard may refer to:* Biological hazard* Biohazard , a book by Ken Alibek* Biohazard , a New York hardcore punk band** Biohazard , a self-titled album from Biohazard...

 response abounded.

One of the major challenges in biosecurity is the increasing availability and accessibility of potentially harmful technology. Biomedical advances and the globalization of scientific and technical expertise have made it possible to greatly improve public health. However, there is also the risk that advances can lead to make biological weapons.

The proliferation of high biosafety level laboratories around the world has many experts worried about availability of targets for those that might be interested in stealing dangerous pathogens. Emerging and re-emerging disease is also a serious biosecurity concern. The recent growth in containment laboratories is often in response to emerging diseases, many new containment labs' main focus is to find ways to control these diseases. By strengthening national disease surveillance, prevention, control and response systems, these labs are raising international public health to new heights.

UNU/IAS Research into Biosecurity & Biosafety emphasizes "long-term consequences of the development and use of biotechnology
Biotechnology
Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...

" and need for "an honest broker to create avenues and forums to unlock the impasses."

In the October 2011 Bio-Response Report Card, the WMD Center cites the major challenges to biosecurity: detection and diagnosis, attribution, communication, medical countermeasure availability, medical countermeasure development and approval process, medical countermeasure dispensing, medical management, and environmental cleanup.

Biosecurity incidents

  • 1984 Rajneeshee religious cult attacks, The Dalles, Oregon
    The Dalles, Oregon
    The Dalles is the largest city and county seat of Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The name of the city comes from the French word dalle The Dalles is the largest city and county seat of Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The name of the city comes from the French word dalle The Dalles is...

  • Objective: Gain control of the Wasco County Court by affecting the election
  • Organism: Salmonella typhimurium, purchased from commercial supplier
  • Dissemination: Restaurant salad bars
  • 751 illnesses, Early investigation by CDC suggested the event was a naturally occurring outbreak. Cult member arrested on unrelated charge confessed involvement with the event
  • 1990s Aum Shinrikyo attempts in Tokyo, Japan
  • Objective: Fulfill apocalyptic prophecy
  • Organisms: Bacillus anthracis (Vaccine strain), Clostridium botulinum (Environmental isolate, Avirulent strain) Aum Shinrikyo ordered Clostridium botulinum from a pharmaceutical company, and Ebola virus (Attempted to acquire from Zaire outbreak under guise of an “Humanitarian mission”)
  • Dissemination: Aerosolization in Tokyo (B. anthracis and Botulinum toxin)
  • Leader Asahara was convicted of criminal activity
  • 2001 Anthrax attacks in the US
  • 1995—Larry Wayne Harris, a white supremacist, ordered 3 vials of Yersinia pestis from the ATCC
  • 1995—Laboratory technician Diane Thompson removed Shigella dysenteriae Type 2 from hospital’s collection and infected co-workers
  • Professor Thomas Butler, United States, 2003
  • 30 vials of Yersinia pestis missing from lab (never recovered); Butler served 19 months in jail
  • Dr. Mario Jascalevich, New Jersey doctor, accused of poisoning 5 patients with this plant-derived toxin - Tubocurarine: 1966
  • Arnfinn Nesset, nursing home operator in Norway, killed 27 residents at a nursing home with curacit: May 1977 – November 1980
  • Dr. David Acer, Florida dentist, infects 6 patients with HIV, unclear if this was a deliberate act: 1987–1990
  • Dr. Ray W. Mettetal, Jr., a neurologist in Virginia, was found in possession of ricin after arrest on another issue: 1995
  • Debora Green, a physician, convicted of trying to murder her estranged husband with ricin
  • Richard Schmidt, a gastroenterologist in Louisiana, convicted of attempted second degree murder for infecting nurse Janice Allen with HIV by injecting her with blood from an AIDS patient: 1998
  • Brian T. Stewart, a phlebotomist, sentenced to life in prison for deliberately infecting his 11-month-old baby with HIV-infected blood to avoid child support payments: 1999
  • Physician reports theft of a vial of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: June 1999
  • Japan 1964-1966, Dr. Mitsuru Suzuki was a physician with training in bacteriology
  • Objective: Revenge due to deep antagonism to what he perceived as a prevailing seniority system
  • Organisms: Shigella dysenteriae and Salmonella typhi
  • Dissemination: Sponge cake, other food sources
  • He was later implicated in 200 – 400 illnesses and 4 deaths
  • Official investigation started after anonymous tip to Ministry of Health and Welfare. He was charged, but was not convicted of any deaths

  • Hospital in Dallas, TX, 1996, Diane Thompson was a clinical laboratory technician
  • Objective: Unclear, possibly revenge against former boyfriend and cover-up by infecting co-workers
  • Organism: Shigella dysenteriae Type 2, acquired from clinical laboratory
  • Dissemination: Contaminated pastries in the office breakroom
  • Infected 12 of her coworkers, She was arrested, convicted, 20 year sentence

The role of education in biosecurity

The advance of the life sciences and biotechnology has the potential to bring great benefits to humankind through responding to societal challenges. However, it is also possible that such advances could be exploited for hostile purposes, something evidenced in a small number of incidents of bioterrorism, but more particularly by the series of large-scale offensive biological warfare programmes carried out by major states in the last century. Dealing with this challenge, which has been labelled the `dual-use` dilemma requires a number of different activities such as those identified above as being require for biosecurity. However, one of the essential ingredients in ensuring that the life sciences continue to generate great benefits and do not become subject to misuse for hostile purposes is a process of engagement between scientists and the security community and the development of strong ethical and normative frameworks to compliment legal and regulatory measures that are being developed by states.

Biosecurity regulations

  • US Select Agent Regulations
  • Facility registration if it possesses one of 81 Select Agent
    Select agent
    In United States law, Select Agents are pathogens or biological toxins which have been declared by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to have the "potential to pose a severe threat to public health and safety"...

    s
  • Facility must designate a Responsible Official
  • Background checks for individuals with access to Select Agents
  • Access controls for areas and containers that contain Select Agents
  • Detailed inventory requirements for Select Agents
  • Security, safety, and emergency response plans
  • Safety and security training
  • Regulation of transfers of Select Agents
  • Extensive documentation and recordkeeping
  • Safety and security inspections
  • Biological Weapons Convention addresses three relevant issues:
  • National Implementing Legislation
  • National Pathogen Security (biosecurity)
  • International Cooperation
  • States Parties agree to pursue national implementation of laboratory and transportation biosecurity (2003)
  • UN 1540
  • urges States to take preventative measures to mitigate the threat of WMD proliferation by non-state actors
  • “Take and enforce effective measures to establish domestic controls to prevent the proliferation of . . . biological weapons . . .; including by establishing appropriate controls over related materials”
  • European Commission Green Paper on Bio-Preparedness (November 2007)
  • recommends developing European standards on laboratory biosecurity including Physical protection, access controls, accountability of pathogens, and registration of researchers
  • Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
  • published “Best Practice Guidelines for Biological Resource Centers” including a section on biosecurity in February 2007
  • Kampala Compact (October 2005) and the Nairobi Announcement (July 2007)
  • stress importance of implementing laboratory biosafety and biosecurity in Africa

Agents of concern

The following agents are deemed a biosecurity concern by the US Government through the US Select Agent List. The list is divided between agents that can infect only humans, zoonotic agents (which can infect both humans and animals), agents that can only infect animals, and agents that can infect only plants.

Human agents

(HHS SELECT AGENTS AND TOXINS)
  • Abrin
    Abrin
    Abrin is a toxalbumin that is found in the seeds of a plant called lucky bean, rosary pea or jequirity pea. Abrin is similar to but far more deadly than ricin, a toxin found in the seeds of the castor oil plant.-Physical Properties:...

  • Cercopithecine herpesvirus 1 (Herpes B Virus
    Herpes B Virus
    Herpes Simian B virus is the endemic simplexvirus of macaque monkeys. B virus is an alphaherpesvirus, which consists of a subset of herpesviruses that travel within hosts using the peripheral nerves...

    )
  • Coccidioides posadasii
    Coccidioides posadasii
    Coccidioides posadasii is a pathogenic fungus that, along with Coccidioides immitis, is the causative agent of coccidioidomycosis in humans. It resides in the soil in certain parts of the Southwestern United States, northern Mexico, and certain other areas in the Americas.C. posadasii and C...

  • Conotoxins
  • Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus
  • Diacetoxyscirpenol
  • Ebola
    Ebola
    Ebola virus disease is the name for the human disease which may be caused by any of the four known ebolaviruses. These four viruses are: Bundibugyo virus , Ebola virus , Sudan virus , and Taï Forest virus...

     virus
  • Lassa fever
    Lassa fever
    Lassa fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic fever caused by the Lassa virus and first described in 1969 in the town of Lassa, in Borno State, Nigeria, in the Yedseram river valley at the south end of Lake Chad. Clinical cases of the disease had been known for over a decade but had not been connected...

     virus
  • Marburg
    Marburg
    Marburg is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany, on the River Lahn. It is the main town of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district and its population, as of March 2010, was 79,911.- Founding and early history :...

     virus
  • Monkeypox
    Monkeypox
    Monkeypox also known as cockpox is an exotic infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus. The disease was first identified in laboratory monkeys, hence its name, but in its natural state it seems to infect rodents more often than primates...

     virus
  • Reconstructed replication competent forms of the 1918 pandemic influenza virus containing any portion of the coding regions of all eight gene segments (Reconstructed 1918 Influenza
    Spanish flu
    The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...

     virus)
  • Ricin
    Ricin
    Ricin , from the castor oil plant Ricinus communis, is a highly toxic, naturally occurring protein. A dose as small as a few grains of salt can kill an adult. The LD50 of ricin is around 22 micrograms per kilogram Ricin , from the castor oil plant Ricinus communis, is a highly toxic, naturally...

  • Rickettsia prowazekii
    Rickettsia prowazekii
    Rickettsia prowazekii is a species of gram negative, Alpha Proteobacteria, obligate intracellular parasitic, aerobic bacteria that is the etiologic agent of epidemic typhus, transmitted in the feces of lice. In North America, the main reservoir for R. prowazekii is the flying squirrel. R...

  • Rickettsia rickettsii
    Rickettsia rickettsii
    Rickettsia rickettsii is a unicellular, gram-negative coccobacillus that is native to the New World. It belongs to the spotted fever group of Rickettsia and is most commonly known as the causative agent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever . By nature, R...

  • Saxitoxin
    Saxitoxin
    Saxitoxin is a neurotoxin naturally produced by certain species of marine dinoflagellates and cyanobacteria Saxitoxin (STX) is a neurotoxin naturally produced by certain species of marine dinoflagellates (Alexandrium sp., Gymnodinium sp., Pyrodinium sp.) and cyanobacteria Saxitoxin (STX) is a...

  • Shiga-like ribosome inactivating proteins
  • South American Haemorrhagic Fever viruses
  • Flexal Virus
  • Guanarito virus
  • Junin virus
    Junin virus
    -Morphology and genome structure:The Junin virus virion is enveloped with a variable diameter of between 50 and 300 nm. The surface of the particle encompasses a layer of T-shaped glycoprotein extensions, extending up to 10 nm from the envelope, which are important for mediating...

  • Machupo
  • Sabia
    Brazilian hemorrhagic fever
    Brazilian hemorrhagic fever is an infectious disease caused by the Sabiá virus, an Arenavirus. The Sabiá virus is an enveloped RNA virus and is highly infectious and lethal....

  • Tetrodotoxin
    Tetrodotoxin
    Tetrodotoxin, also known as "tetrodox" and frequently abbreviated as TTX, sometimes colloquially referred to as "zombie powder" by those who practice Vodou, is a potent neurotoxin with no known antidote. There have been successful tests of a possible antidote in mice, but further tests must be...

  • Tick-borne encephalitis complex (flavi) viruses
  • Central European Tick-borne encephalitis
    Tick-borne meningoencephalitis
    Tick-borne encephalitis is a viral infectious disease involving the central nervous system. The disease most often manifests as meningitis, encephalitis, or meningoencephalitis. Although TBE is most commonly recognized as a neurological disorder, mild fever can also occur...

  • Far Eastern Tick-borne encephalitis
    Tick-borne meningoencephalitis
    Tick-borne encephalitis is a viral infectious disease involving the central nervous system. The disease most often manifests as meningitis, encephalitis, or meningoencephalitis. Although TBE is most commonly recognized as a neurological disorder, mild fever can also occur...

  • Kyasanur Forest disease
    Kyasanur forest disease
    Kyasanur forest disease is a tick-borne viral hemorrhagic fever endemic to South Asia. The disease is caused by a virus belonging to the family flaviviridae, which also includes yellow fever and dengue fever.-History:...

  • Omsk hemorrhagic fever
    Omsk hemorrhagic fever
    Omsk Hemorrhagic Fever is a viral hemorrhagic fever caused by a Flavivirus.It is found in Siberia. It is named for an outbreak in Omsk.-Virology:...

  • Russian spring-summer encephalitis
  • Variola major virus (Smallpox virus) and
  • Variola minor virus (Alastrim
    Alastrim
    Alastrim, also known as variola minor, is the milder strain of the variola virus that causes smallpox.Variola minor is of the genus orthopoxvirus, which are DNA viruses that replicate in the cytoplasm of the affected cell, rather than in its nucleus...

    )
  • Yersinia pestis
    Yersinia pestis
    Yersinia pestis is a Gram-negative rod-shaped bacterium. It is a facultative anaerobe that can infect humans and other animals....


Zoonotic agents

(OVERLAP SELECT AGENTS AND TOXINS)
  • Bacillus anthracis
    Bacillus anthracis
    Bacillus anthracis is the pathogen of the Anthrax acute disease. It is a Gram-positive, spore-forming, rod-shaped bacterium, with a width of 1-1.2µm and a length of 3-5µm. It can be grown in an ordinary nutrient medium under aerobic or anaerobic conditions.It is one of few bacteria known to...

  • Botulinum neurotoxin
    Botulinum toxin
    Botulinum toxin is a protein produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, and is considered the most powerful neurotoxin ever discovered. Botulinum toxin causes Botulism poisoning, a serious and life-threatening illness in humans and animals...

  • Botulinum neurotoxin
    Botulinum toxin
    Botulinum toxin is a protein produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, and is considered the most powerful neurotoxin ever discovered. Botulinum toxin causes Botulism poisoning, a serious and life-threatening illness in humans and animals...

     producing species of Clostridium
  • Brucella abortus
  • Brucella melitensis
    Brucella melitensis
    -Introduction:Brucella melitensis is a gram negative coccobacillus bacteria from the Brucellaceae family. The bacterium causes Ovine Brucellosis, along with Brucella ovis. It can infect sheep, cattle, and sometimes humans and it can be transmitted by the stable fly...

  • Brucella suis
  • Burkholderia mallei
    Burkholderia mallei
    Burkholderia mallei is a gram-negative bipolar aerobic bacterium, a Burkholderia-genus human and animal pathogen causing Glanders; the Latin name of this disease gave name to the causative agent species...

     (formerly Pseudomonas mallei)
  • Burkholderia pseudomallei
    Burkholderia pseudomallei
    Burkholderia pseudomallei is a Gram-negative, bipolar, aerobic, motile rod-shaped bacterium. It infects humans and animals and causes the disease melioidosis. It is also capable of infecting plants....

     (formerly Pseudomonas pseudomallei)
  • Clostridium perfringens epsilon toxin
  • Coccidioides immitis
    Coccidioides immitis
    Coccidioides immitis is a pathogenic fungus that resides in the soil in certain parts of the southwestern United States, northern Mexico, and a few other areas in the Western Hemisphere....

  • Coxiella burnetii
    Coxiella burnetii
    Coxiella burnetii is an obligate intracellular bacterial pathogen, and is the causative agent of Q fever. The genus Coxiella is morphologically similar to Rickettsia, but with a variety of genetic and physiological differences. C...

  • Eastern equine encephalitis virus
    Eastern equine encephalitis virus
    Eastern equine encephalitis virus , commonly called sleeping sickness or Triple E, is a zoonotic alphavirus and arbovirus present in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. EEE was first recognized in Massachusetts, USA in 1831 when 75 horses died of encephalitic illness...

  • Francisella tularensis
    Francisella tularensis
    Francisella tularensis is a pathogenic species of gram-negative bacteria and the causative agent of tularemia or rabbit fever. It is a facultative intracellular bacterium....

  • Hendra virus
  • Nipah virus
  • Rift Valley fever virus
  • Shiga toxin
    Shiga toxin
    Shiga toxins are a family of related toxins with two major groups, Stx1 and Stx2, whose genes are considered to be part of the genome of lambdoid prophages. The toxins are named for Kiyoshi Shiga, who first described the bacterial origin of dysentery caused by Shigella dysenteriae. The most common...

  • Staphylococcal enterotoxins
  • T-2 toxin
  • Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus
    Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus
    Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus is a mosquito-borne viral pathogen that causes Venezuelan equine encephalitis or encephalomyelitis . VEE can affect all equine species, such as horses, donkeys, and zebras. After infection, equines may suddenly die or show progressive central nervous system...


Animal agents

(USDA SELECT AGENTS AND TOXINS)
  • African horse sickness virus
  • African swine fever virus
    African swine fever virus
    African swine fever virus is the causative agent of African swine fever . ASFV is a large, double-stranded DNA virus which replicates in the cytoplasm of infected cells, and is the only member of the Asfarviridae family. ASFV infects domestic pigs, warthogs and bushpigs, as well as soft ticks ,...

  • Akabane virus
    Akabane virus
    The Akabane virus is an insect-transmitted virus that causes congenital abnormalities of the central nervous systems in ruminants.-Virus:Two viruses, both arthropod borne, have been implicated in the cause of these congenital defects: Akabane virus, named after the district in Japan where it was...

  • Avian influenza virus (highly pathogenic)
  • Bluetongue virus (Exotic)
  • Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
    Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
    Bovine spongiform encephalopathy , commonly known as mad-cow disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle that causes a spongy degeneration in the brain and spinal cord. BSE has a long incubation period, about 30 months to 8 years, usually affecting adult cattle at a peak age onset of...

  • Camel pox virus
  • Classical swine fever virus
  • Cowdria ruminantium
    Cowdria ruminantium
    -Introduction:Heartwater is a tick-borne rickettsial disease of domestic and wild ruminants. It is caused by Cowdria ruminantium - an intracellular gram-negative coccal bacterium...

     (Heartwater)
  • Foot-and-mouth disease virus
    Foot-and-mouth disease virus
    The foot-and-mouth disease virus is the pathogen that causes foot-and-mouth disease. It is a picornavirus, the prototypical member of the Aphthovirus genus...

  • Goat pox virus
    Variola caprina
    Variola caprina is a contagious viral disease caused by a pox virus that affects goats. The virus usually spreads via the respiratory system, and sometimes spreads through abraded skin. It is most likely to occur in crowded stock. Sources of the virus include cutaneous lesions, saliva , nasal...

  • Japanese encephalitis virus
  • Lumpy skin disease virus
  • Malignant catarrhal fever virus
    Bovine malignant catarrhal fever
    Bovine malignant catarrhal fever is a fatal lymphoproliferative disease caused by a group of ruminant gamma herpes viruses including Alcelaphine Herpes Virus 1 and Ovine Herpes Virus 2 These viruses cause inapparent infection in their reservoir hosts, but are usually fatal in cattle and other...

     (Alcelaphine herpesvirus type 1)
  • Menangle virus
    Menangle virus
    Menangle virus is a virus that infects pigs, humans and bats.-History:Menangle virus was first identified in 1997 after a piggery in Menangle near Sydney, NSW, Australia experienced a high number of stillbirths and deformities during farrowing. Two workers at the piggery came down with an...

  • Mycoplasma capricolum/ M.F38/M. mycoides Capri (contagious caprine pleuropneumonia)
    Contagious caprine pleuropneumonia
    Contagious caprine pleuropneumonia is a cause of major economic losses to goat producers in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.Disease is caused by members of the Mycoplasma genus - usually Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capricolum but sometimes by M. mycoides subsp. capri or M. mycoides subsp. mycoides...

  • Mycoplasma mycoides mycoides (contagious bovine pleuropneumonia
    Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia
    Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia , is a contagious bacterial disease that afflicts the lungs of cattle, buffalo, zebu, and yaks....

    )
  • Newcastle disease virus (velogenic)
  • Peste des petits ruminants virus
  • Rinderpest virus
  • Sheep pox virus
  • Swine vesicular disease
    Swine vesicular disease
    Swine vesicular disease is an acute, contagious viral disease of swine caused by the swine vesicular disease virus, an enterovirus. It is characterized by fever and vesicles with subsequent ulcers in the mouth and on the snout, feet, and teats...

     virus
  • Vesicular stomatitis virus (Exotic)

Plant agents

(USDA PLANT PROTECTION AND QUARANTINE (PPQ) SELECT AGENTS AND TOXINS)
  • Candidatus Liberobacter africanus
  • Candidatus Liberobacter asiaticus
  • Peronosclerospora philippinensis
  • Ralstonia solanacearum
    Ralstonia solanacearum
    Ralstonia solanacearum is an aerobic non-sporing, Gram-negative plant pathogenic bacterium. R. solanacearum is soil-borne and motile with a polar flagellar tuft. It colonises the xylem, causing bacterial wilt in a very wide range of potential host plants...

    race 3, biovar. 2
  • Sclerophthora rayssiae
    Sclerophthora rayssiae
    Sclerophthora rayssiae is a plant pathogen.- External links :* *...

    var. zeae
  • Synchytrium endobioticum
    Synchytrium endobioticum
    Synchytrium endobioticum is a chytrid fungus that causes the potato wart disease or black scab. It also infects some other plants of the Solanum genus, though potato is the only cultivated host.-Systematics:...

  • Xanthomonas oryzae
    Xanthomonas oryzae
    Xanthomonas oryzae is a species of proteobacteria. The major host of the bacteria is rice .The species contains two pathovars which are non-European: Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae and Xanthomonas oryzae pv...

    pv. oryzicola
  • Xylella fastidiosa
    Xylella fastidiosa
    Xylella fastidiosa, a bacterium in the class Gammaproteobacteria, is an important plant pathogen that causes phoney peach disease in the southern United States, oleander leaf scorch, and Pierce's disease, and citrus variegated chlorosis disease in Brazil.-Pierce's disease:Pierce's disease was...

    (citrus variegated chlorosis strain)

See also

  • Biosecurity Act 1993
    Biosecurity Act 1993
    Biosecurity Act 1993 is an Act of Parliament in New Zealand passed in order to prevent pests and other unwanted organisms. It was a world first.Part 5 of the Act provides for a National Pest Management Strategy and Regional Pest Management Strategy....

  • Bioterrorism
    Bioterrorism
    Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents are bacteria, viruses, or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form. For the use of this method in warfare, see biological warfare.-Definition:According to the...

  • Biorisk
    Biorisk
    Biorisk is a term in the public domain that has been used frequently for various purposes and references can be found already in the early 90s...

    • Biosafety
      Biosafety
      Biosafety: prevention of large-scale loss of biological integrity, focusing both on ecology and human health .Biosafety is related to several fields:*In ecology ,...

  • Heliciculture
    Heliciculture
    Heliciculture, or snail farming is the process of farming or raising land snails specifically for human consumption, and more recently, to obtain snail slime for cosmetics use....

  • Invasive species
    Invasive species
    "Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....

  • Insect farming
    Insect farming
    Insect farming is the practice of raising insects for agricultural purposes. It can either be used to fight invasive species, to create industrial products such as petroleum or to grow inexpensive and environmentally sustainable food for humans.-See also:...

  • Food safety
    Food safety
    Food safety is a scientific discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness. This includes a number of routines that should be followed to avoid potentially severe health hazards....

  • Good Agricultural Practices
    Good Agricultural Practices
    The term Good Agricultural Practices can refer to any collection of specific methods, which when applied to agriculture, produces results that are in harmony with the values of the proponents of those practices...

  • Sericulture
    Sericulture
    Sericulture, or silk farming, is the rearing of silkworms for the production of raw silk.Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, Bombyx mori is the most widely used and intensively studied. According to Confucian texts, the discovery of silk production by B...

  • Quarantine
    Quarantine
    Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....

  • Public health
    Public health
    Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...


Further reading

  • Chapter 9 on Laboratory Biosecurity
    • WHO/FAO
      Food and Agriculture Organization
      The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Serving both developed and developing countries, FAO acts as a neutral forum where all nations meet as equals to negotiate agreements and...

      /OIE joint guidance – Biorisk Management: Laboratory Biosecurity Guidance, 2006
    • CDC
      Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
      The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services headquartered in Druid Hills, unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, in Greater Atlanta...

      /NIH Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories, 5th edition, 2007
  • Extensive recommendations on biosecurity


Conferences and related events

  • Biosecuritycodes.org - A detailed list of past and future Biosecurity events dating from 1928. Brought to you by the International Futures Program of the OECD. The site is available in English and French with a limited Japanese version.
  • BIOSAFETY and BIOSECURITY Training Course, Fort Collins, CO
  • Controlling Biorisks Course at Sandia National Labs, NM

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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