Animal Agriculture Research

Risk assessment for animal agriculture infectious disease research has different criteria than that for human and zoonotic infectious disease research. The rationale for risk assessment in animal agriculture has to be based not on the public health standards but ON THE POTENTIAL ECONOMIC IMPACT on animal morbidity and mortality AND the trade implications of disease.

Some of the factors in the assessment that should be considered include:

1. Is the agent endemic or foreign to the region?
2. What is known about the morbidity and mortality caused by the agent?
3. Are there available prophylaxes, treatments or vaccines available?
4. What are the shedding patterns of the agent in relevant species?
5. Are there active control or eradication programs for the disease?
6. What is known about the environmental stability of the agent?
7. What will be the quantity and concentration of the agent?
8. How will the agent be used in animals (large or small) or in the laboratory?
9. What is the host range of the agent, and is there ongoing surveillance testing?
10. What are the biological factors of the agent?
11. Who will be working with the agent – level of experience and knowledge?
12. What practices/procedures will be used?
13. What is the experimental design and what protocols will be used?
14. What SOPs are available?
15. Is the facility design and management acceptable?

Risk management strategies for work with agricultural pathogens must focus on biocontainment and environmental protection in addition to worker protection. For most agriculture pathogens, the U.S. CDC/NIH publication Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL) can be used to establish standards for an appropriate level of biocontainment.  However, infectious disease research with certain high consequence pathogens and loose-housed large animals requires additional enhancements since the facility barriers (which are usually secondary barriers) now become primary barriers. The U.S. standard developed by the USDA calls this BSL-3 Ag which utilizes the containment features of a standard ABSL-3 as defined by the BMBL and adds most of the enhancements assigned to ABSL-4.

At Mississippi State University, BSL-2 and ABSL-2 facilities, safety equipment and practices as defined by the BMBL are appropriate for the types of organisms studied here. These include agents of moderate potential hazard to animals or agriculture that are generally endemic, cause illness of varying degree and are typically treatable or preventable. Most research labs that work with food-borne pathogens and domestic diseases fall into this category.

When filling out an IBC application for agricultural infectious disease research, please keep the 15 points stated above in mind.