The Approved List of Biological Agents - latest version published

HSE Press Release: E078:04 - 2 June 2004

The Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens (ACDP) today published the latest version of the Approved List of Biological Agents.('The Approved List').

The Approved List classifies biological agents (bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi and prions) into one of four hazard groups (HG) according to the following criteria:

• Their ability to cause infection (in otherwise healthy individuals);
• The severity of the disease that may result;
• The risk that infection will spread to the community; and
• The availability of effective vaccines and treatment.

The Approved List is an approved document that works in conjunction with the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) to provide the regulatory framework controlling the risk from biological agents at work. Only those agents classified into Groups 2-4 are listed, however, simply because an agent is not listed this does not mean it is automatically a HG1 agent.

A limited number of agents have been reclassified, removed or added to the list, reflecting the most current scientific knowledge. This version of the Approved List has seen changes to the status of Duvenhage virus and Mobala virus (both have been changed from HG2 to HG3), the removal of several HG2 bacteria, and the inclusion of the SARS virus as a HG3 agent.

Previously, the List was a supplement to the Categorisation of biological agents according to hazard and categories of containment guidance. The List is now a stand-alone publication that should be read in conjunction with COSHH and relevant ACDP and COSHH guidance.

Additional guidance on work with HG3 enteric pathogens (known as Appendix 24) which was previously published with the Approved List remains current but will appear in new ACDP guidance (Biological agents: managing the risks) currently under preparation, due to be published by early 2005. In the interim, Appendix 24 will be separately available on the HSE website.

The Approved List is now available as an online publication only on the HSE website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/misc208.pdf. As with all online publications, readers are advised to frequently check the website to ensure information is as up to date as possible.

Notes to editors

1. This document was drawn up after consultation with the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens (ACDP), which advises the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) and Health and Agriculture Ministers on issues relating to occupational exposure to biological agents.

2. The Approved List has a special legal status as it is approved by the Health and Safety Commission (HSC). The List is made under Section 15 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and implements the Community Classification of biological agents set out in European Community Directive 2000/54/EC. The Control of Substances Hazardous to health Regulations (COSHH) 2002 impose requirements by reference to this classification, which are therefore legally binding.

3. ACDP has been responsible for preparing a classification of biological agents since a list was first published in 1984 as a result of recommendations in the Shooter Report of 1980, on a third death from laboratory-acquired smallpox.

4. Further changes to the List are as follows:

• A new agent, human metapneumonovirus, has been added in Hazard Group 2.
  
• Transfusion transmitted (TT) virus, Mycobacterium avium/intracellulare, M. kansasii, M. scrofulaceum, M. simiae and M. xenopi have been reclassified from Hazard Group 3 to Hazard Group 2 on the basis of current information about their infectivity.
  
• A number of Hazard Group 2 bacteria have been removed from the list on the basis that they are opportunist pathogens and are usually associated with illness in immunocompromised individuals. As such, this means that they do not strictly fit the definition of a Hazard Group 2 agent. (Any work with these agents is still subject to risk assessment under COSHH, the same as work with any other biological agent, and appropriate containment and control measures put in place).
  
• Uukuviruses have been removed from the list as the agents have not been associated with human disease.
  
• Trypanosoma rangeli has been removed from the list as the agent does not cause human disease.

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