UNIVERSIY OF GONDAR
INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Department Of Biomedical Engineering
Hospital Engineering Assignment on
Classifications of Microorganisms
Based on Risk Level 3 and 4
Group members ID No
1. Eyasu Desalegne 00428/09
2. Surafel Asmare 01055/09
3.Marye Agegn 00735/09
4.Mequanint Meseret 00788/09 Date: 10 May,
2021
10/05/2021 1
Gondar, Ethiopia
Outline
• Introduction
• Development of a classification system
• Risk Group Three Agents
• Risk Group Four Agents
• Conclusion
• References
05/26/2025 2
Introduction
• Older provisions, essentially based on the fear of imported exotic infections, were
limited to quarantine measures.
• These early and generic provisions did not take into account of the biological
agents involved.
• The construction of a regulatory framework that addresses biological hazards is a
relatively recent requirement.
05/26/2025 3
Development of a classification system
• The first attempt to formulate such a classification was by the United States Public
Health Service.
• These classes ranged from those that offered no or minimal hazards (class 1) to those
that were responsible for very serious diseases (class 4).
• World Health Organization formulated a set of minimum standards for laboratory
safety that included definitions of four risk groups based on risks to laboratory
workers and to the community (WHO 1979).
• The European Commission (1990) issued a directive on the protection of workers
from risks related to exposure to biological agents at work.
05/26/2025 4
European Community classification of pathogens
(European Commission 1990)
• Group 1- A biological agent that is unlikely to cause human disease.
• Group 2- A biological agent that can cause human disease and might be a hazard
to workers.
• Group 3- A biological agent that can cause severe human disease and present a
serious hazard to workers.
• Group 4- A biological agent that causes severe human disease and is a serious
hazard to workers.
05/26/2025 5
European Federation of Biotechnology risk classes of
microorganisms
• EFB class 1- Microorganisms that have never been identified as causative agents
of disease in man and that offer no threat to the environment.
• EFB class 2- Microorganisms that may cause disease in man and might, therefore,
offer a hazard to laboratory workers.
• EFB class 3- Microorganisms that offer a severe threat to the health of laboratory
workers but a comparatively small risk to the population at large.
• EFB class 4-Microorganisms that cause severe illness in man and offer a serious
hazard to laboratory workers and people at large.
05/26/2025 6
Brussels Regional Government classification of animal
pathogens
• Class 1. Microorganisms and other organisms known to be incapable of causing a
disease in animals.
• Class 2. Zoo-pathogens that might cause a disease in animals’ and present, at
different levels.
• Class 3. Zoo pathogens that may cause serious epizootics with possible interspecific
diffusion.
• Class 4. Zoo pathogens that may cause panzotics or serious epizootics with a high
mortality rate and dramatic economic consequences in the region affected.
05/26/2025 7
World Health Organization classification
• Risk group 1: No or very low individual and community risk.
• Risk group 2: Moderate individual risk, low community risk.
• Risk group 3: High individual risk, low community risk.
• Risk group 4: High individual and community risk.
05/26/2025 8
Conclusion
Microorganisms are classified into 4 risk groups, based on degree of
hazard to the individual, community and environment. The principal
hazardous characteristics of an agent are, its capability to infect and
cause disease in a susceptible human or animal host, its virulence as
measured by the severity of disease, and the availability of
preventive measures and effective treatments for the disease.
05/26/2025 9
05/26/2025 10
