§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the relationship is between risk of spread of animal pathogens from a laboratory and the infectivity of the organism; and which pathogens are classified as group 2. [150896]
§ Mr. BradshawThe risk of a particular organism escaping from a laboratory is not directly affected by its infectivity. Defra classifies animal pathogens in different groups for containment purposes, according to the risk they pose to the health of farmed livestock and poultry. The assessment of risk takes account of a number of factors, including the infectivity of the pathogen and the nature and seriousness of the disease it causes. The higher the level of risk posed by an animal pathogen, the higher the level of laboratory containment required for its safe handling. The following animal pathogens are currently classified as Defra group 2 pathogens:
- Anaplasma spp.
- Aujeszsky's disease virus
- Avian paramyxoviruses other than paramyxovirus 1 (PMV1) group
- Babesia bigemina
- Babesia bovis
- Babesia caballi
- Babesia equi
- Borna disease virus
- Bovine leukosis virus
- Bovine malignant catarrh virus (African type)
- Chlamydia psittaci
- Cowdria ruminatum
- Derzsky's disease virus (goose parvovirus)
- Echinococcus multilocularis
- Echinococcus granulosis
- Equine viral arteritis
- Getah virus
- Hypoderma bovis
- Hypoderma lineatum
- Maedi-visna virus
- Mycobacterium bovis
- Mycobacterium tuberculosis
- Mycobacterium africanus
- Mycobacterium kansasii
- Mycobacterium leprae
- Mycoplasma agalactiae
- Mycoplasma capricolum sub species capripneumoniae
- Mycoplasma mycoides var capri
- Newcastle disease virus—Hitchener B1 and F strains only
- Porcine influenza viruses
- Pox viruses—camel
- Psoroptes communis var. ovis
- Theileria spp.
534W - Trichinella spiralis
- Trypanosoma spp
- Viral haemorrhagic disease of rabbits virus
- Any other non-enzootic animal pathogen not listed in Defra groups 3 and 4