Risk Groups

World Health Organization (WHO) Assigned Risk Groups

Remember that in the last module we talked about assessing risk in the laboratory. A large part of assessing risk is knowing the biological agent you will be working with. The World Health Organization developed 4 risk groups to categorize the potential hazard of biological agents. These risk groups are important because they help to determine the required biosafety level needed for working with the materials.

Risk Group 1 Severity Not likely to cause disease Individual Risk LOW Community Risk LOW Example Escherichia Coli (K12)

Risk group 1 agents are unlikely to cause disease in healthy humans or animals and are unlikely to spread.

 

 

 

Risk Group 2
Severity	Can cause disease but vaccines or treatments are available
Individual Risk	MODERATE
Community Risk	LOW
Example	HIV on a T-Cell

Risk group 2 agents may cause disease but it is typically not serious. Effective treatment and preventative measures are available and the risk of spread of infection is limited.