Select Agents
The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal and Plant Health Inspection service (APHIS) jointly administer the Federal Select Agent Program (FSAP). The FSAP regulates the possession, use, and transfer of specifically designated agents and toxins (Select Agents) that have the potential to pose a particularly severe threat to public health and safety. The FSAP oversees these activities and registers all laboratories and other entities in the U.S. that possess, use, or transfer select agents or toxins. For details on the FSAP and a list of designated select agents go to
HHS and USDA rules regulating the possession, use, and transfer of select agents and toxins are Code of Federal Regulations 42 CFR Part 73, 7 CFR Part 331, and 9 CFR Part 121..
All campus Select Agents (SA) activities, including the possession, storage, and use of select agents and toxins as defined by HHS and the USDA, shall only occur in the Biosecurity Research Institute (BRI) located in Pat Roberts Hall.
Laboratories that transfer or receive Select Agents must be registered with the Select Agent Program prior to transferring or obtaining Select Agents.
Each Principal Investigator, laboratory employee, room, and Select Agent used must be registered in the Select Agent Program. This can be done by contacting the Responsible Official at the Biosecurity Research Institute (BRI). The Responsible Official for Kansas State University is the Biosafety Officer at the BRI.
The regulation is very clear that these agents may only be used or stored in a registered space. Records must be maintained concerning every activity involved in working with, as well as the transferring and receiving of, Select Agents.
Proper security measures and safety practices must be followed. Questions regarding Select Agents can be directed to the KSU Responsible Official at the Biosecurity Research Institute.
This program is routinely inspected by the FSAP (CDC and USDA APHIS).