Biosafety laboratories : perimeter security assessment of the nation's five BSL-4 laboratories : report to congressional committees

United States Government Accountability Office. (Author).

Summary: Biosafety labs under the U.S. Bioterrorism Act are primarily regulated and must be registered with either the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) under the Select Agent Regulations. Currently, all operational biosafety level (BSL) 4 labs are registered with the CDC and thus are regulated by the CDC, not USDA. BSL-4 labs handle the world's most dangerous agents and diseases. In fact, of the four BSL designations, only BSL-4 labs can work with agents for which no cure or treatment exists. GAO was asked to perform a systematic security assessment of key perimeter security controls at the nation's five operational BSL-4 labs. To meet this objective, GAO performed a physical security assessment of the perimeter of each lab using a security survey it developed. GAO focused primarily on 15 physical security controls, based on GAO expertise and research of commonly accepted physical security principles.

Record details

Physical Description: electronic
remote
ii, 20 pages : digital, PDF file
Publisher: [Washington, D.C.] : U.S. Govt. Accountability Office, [2008]

Content descriptions

General Note:	Title from title screen (viewed on Oct. 16, 2008). "September 2008." "GAO-08-1092."
Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references.
System Details Note:	System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Mode of access: World Wide Web from GAO web site. Address as of 9/16/08: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d081092.pdf ; current access available via PURL.