On 2 September, ASM submitted comments on the proposal to add SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS CoV) to the list of HHS select agents and toxins, published in the July 13, 2009, Federal Register, Vo. 74, No. 132. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that it is proposing this action because (i) SARS CoV can cause significant mortality, especially in the elderly, (ii) the virus has the capability of easily being transmitted from human to human, (iii) there is currently no vaccine or antiviral approved for the prevention or treatment of infections caused by the SARS CoV virus, and (iv) it has been documented that the virus may persist in the environment. The CDC states that it has consulted with subject matter experts from the CDC, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and other federal agencies. The CDC recognizes that there may be individuals and entities that are not currently registered under the HHS Select Agent Program who possess SARS CoV and would be required to register with HHS should the proposal be finalized.

ASM said it believes the proposal to add the SARS CoV virus to the HHS list of select agents and toxins deserves further deliberation of the biosafety and biosecurity issues involved with this agent and the implications for research and public health activities. The list of select agents and toxins should represent a broad consensus by the scientific, public health, and security communities. It should include consideration of the public health and security consequences and likelihood of the agent being used for bioterrorism, which is paramount to the basis for requiring additional oversight.

ASM recommended that the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) be consulted and asked to review biosafety and biosecurity issues related to the SARS CoV virus and to make recommendations about the proposal to add SARS CoV to the HHS list of select agents. ASM said it recommended that the NSABB in their deliberations consider whether making SARS CoV a select agent will substantively reduce the number of investigators able to perform research on this agent as well as the impact on development of prevention and control countermeasures against natural outbreaks of SARS or use of the virus for bioterrorism.

ASM also recommended that NSABB consider the impact on international collaboration and public health efforts. The ASM letter is available online at http://www.asm.org/index.php?option_com_content&view_article&id_91046&title_September_8%2C_2009_-_ASM_Comments_on_the_Proposed_Addition_of_SARS-CoV_to_the_List_of_Select_Agents_and_Toxin&Itemid_349.