Animal Biosafety

At ASU, EHS and partners ensure the highest standards of animal biosafety for employee safety.

Employee safety when working with animals is a collaborative effort led by ASU EHS in partnership with the Department of Animal Care and Technologies, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and Institutional Biosafety Committee. 

The ASU Biosafety Manual outlines work with infectious or recombinant and synthetic materials, animals, and genetically modified animals. Before work can begin, approval must be received from the IACUC and the IBC. ASU Animal Biosafety supports researchers, employees and students in their research to ensure all procedures are performed safely and follow federal, state, local and university regulations and policies.

ASU Biosafety and Animal Biosafety utilize the National Institutes of Health Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories manual and other biosafety sources to provide up-to-date training and information.

ASU Animal Biosafety diligently manages arthropods at ASU, playing a crucial role in ensuring the safety and security of the campus community. Arthropods include those that may transmit pathogens, such as mosquitoes and ticks, and those that do not commonly do so, such as ants, bees and mealybugs. Common arthropods in ASU research are drosophila, which comprises fruit flies, mosquitoes and spiders. Additionally, the IBC maintains the purview of arthropod research if it involves microorganisms, genetic modifications or recombinant DNA.

EHS is a valuable resource for researchers who require permits to establish arthropod facilities. They provide comprehensive support, helping researchers determine standard operating procedures for their activities and working with regulatory agencies to ensure a smooth and safe research process.

We use the American Committee of Medical Entomology’s Arthropod Containment Guidelines version 3.2 and the subsequent addendum to version 3.2 to maintain a standard of arthropod research at ASU. These documents are our primary resource for remaining consistent with the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules and the Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories manual.

Review the ASU fact sheet for using transgenic arthropods in research and teaching for more information.

Zoonotic agents are pathogens that can be transmitted between animals and humans. Using these agents in research animals falls under the auspices of animal biosafety. Human exposure can occur through multiple routes, including bites, scratches, aerosol droplets, mucosal secretions, feces or urine. For animals inoculated with infectious agents, there may also be a concern of transmission among a susceptible animal colony, and these agents fall under the auspices of animal biosecurity. While many laboratory animal species are bred to be free of pathogens, there may be zoonotic agents associated with laboratory animals, some of which can pose a risk to humans or other animals in the colonies.

Additionally, humanized animals like those administered or implanted with human tissues or cells capable of supporting the replication of human agents, animals with altered genotypes resulting in new or increased susceptibility to infectious agents, and animals with altered immune systems, such as severe combined immunodeficient like mice, require specific risk assessments for zoonotic issues.

• Animal biosafety PPE requirements.
• ABSL PPE table.