Select Agent Program

Use, storage and purchase of organisms listed as Select Agents and High Consequence Livestock Pathogens and Toxins by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) are strictly regulated.  These organisms include bacteria, viruses, toxins, rickettsia and fungi that pose a potential threat to public health or welfare.

Authorization to use Select Agents

USC Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) approval is required prior to receipt or use of any Select Agent above an exempt quantity. The IBC approval process includes registration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and/or the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

All Select Agents, including those below the exempt quantity, must be included in the USC Chemical Inventory.

Security requirements

Select Agents must be stored in a locked container within a locked area when not in use.

Security clearance is required for all individuals with access to Select Agents above an exempt quantity.  Laboratory Safety will submit to the Department of Justice the name and fingerprints of each individual identified on the IBC form as working with a Select Agent.

Every person who enters a laboratory that contains a Select Agent above an exempt quantity must either have an appropriate security clearance or be accompanied and monitored by such a person while in the room. This requirement includes visitors and employees who perform routine cleaning, maintenance, repair or inspections.

IBC protocols for approval to use Select Agents must include a security plan that addresses the following elements:

• Physical security
• Cyber security
• Inventory
• Material transfers
• Training
• Suspicious persons and activity reporting
• Provisions for cleaning and maintenance

Physical security requirements are addressed through a risk analysis performed by Laboratory Safety for each proposal to use a Select Agent.

Theft or loss of a Select Agent

Thefts or loss of a Select Agent must immediately be reported to the Department of Public Safety and to Laboratory Safety who will inform CDC and/or APHIS.