OIE Collaborating Centre for Biorisk Management Strategic Plan
Due to efforts by individual nations and the international community to monitor and control natural occurring outbreaks of animal and zoonotic diseases, any number and variety of select agents and especially dangerous pathogens can be found at diagnostic laboratories around the world. Diagnostic testing is a crucial aspect of disease surveillance, but the organized collection and testing of diagnostic samples from the animal and human population at laboratories has created a repository of disease agents and toxins that could cause serious harm if released or acquired by nefarious means. The delicate balance between public health disease surveillance and the management of biorisks at facilities utilized in surveillance is a necessary goal of veterinary public health.