Overview
Pathogen (pathogenic agent)
Any microbiological agent or biological toxin that is capable of causing disease in humans, animals or plants. Lab-adapted strains of microbes are not included under this definition; examples include K12-derived E. coli strains and S. cerevisiae.
Human Pathogen
Capable of causing disease in healthy human adults.
Opportunistic Pathogen
Capable of causing disease in hosts with compromised immune systems.
Zoonotic Agents
Capable of causing disease in humans and animals.
Biohazardardous waste
Waste that is contaminated with pathogenic agents and/or contains recombinant nucleic acid molecules and/or human tissues and fluids that fall under the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Standard.
Here are some important terms that you should be familiar with to help you distinguish biological hazards from non-hazards.
A pathogen is generally defined as a microbe or toxin that is capable of infecting and causing disease in humans, animals, or plants.
Human pathogens are further defined as being able to cause disease in healthy adults. There are some microorganisms that can cause disease in susceptible human hosts due to a compromised immune system, but not do not normally cause disease in healthy adults.
Opportunistic pathogens: An example of this is when a person is infected with HIV, they become more susceptible to infection by microbes that would not normally be able to cause disease such as yeast that live on our bodies as part of our normal flora. Such microorganisms are generally referred to opportunistic pathogens.
Zoonotic Agents are those pathogens that are able to infect and cause disease in both humans and animals. Salmonella is an example of this as well as Avian Influenza. These types of agents are restricted to BSL-2 or higher containment labs.
Biohazardous waste at UNL includes not only pathogen contaminated materials, but also materials that contain recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecules as well as all human cell lines, tissues, organs, fluids, etc.