Avoiding biohazards in medical, veterinary and research laboratories

Personnel in medical, veterinary or research laboratories may be exposed to a wide variety of pathogens that range from deadly to debilitating. For so me of these pathogens, no treatment is available, and in other cases the tr eatment does not fully control the disease. It is important that personnel in laboratories that process human or microbiological specimens follow univ ersal precautions when handling tissues, cells, or microbiological specimen s owing to the increasing numbers of individuals infected with hepatitis C and HIV in the US and the possibility that an individual may be asymptomati c when a specimen is obtained. Similar precautions must be followed in labo ratories that use animal tissues owing to the possibility of exposure to ag ents that are pathogenic in humans. Personnel with conditions associated wi th immunosuppression should evaluate carefully whether or not specific labo ratory environments put them at increased risk of disease. We offer here so me general approaches to identifying biohazards and to minimizing the poten tial risk of exposure. The issues discussed can be used to develop a genera l safety program as required by regulatory or accrediting agencies, includi ng the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.