Society for Risk Analysis
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Biological Stressors Specialty GroupWelcome to the home page for the Biological Stressors Specialty Group. Take a look at What's New in our web. The Food/Water Safety Risk Specialty Group (FWSRSG) has been redefined as the Biological Stressors Specialty Group and is a subsection of the Society for Risk Analysis. At its June 2, 2005 meeting, the SRA Council approved a proposal submitted by the Food and Water Specialty Group officers to amend the charter of the Specialty Group and redefine the Group as the SRA Biological Stressors Specialty Group. Biological stressors represent a distinct category of hazards that share many common features. Unlike chemical or physical hazards, biological stressors:
The scope of the new SRA Biological Stressors Specialty Group includes: human pathogens transmitted via food, water, air, organs (including blood), and body fluids and excretions; zoonotic pathogens; biologically produced disease agents; plant and animal pathogens; plant and animal pests; invasive species; and invasive genetic material. Examples of each of these areas include the following:
Human pathogens transmitted via food: Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes
Human pathogens transmitted via water: Cryptosporidium parvum, Vibrio cholerae
Human pathogens transmitted via air: Bacillus anthracis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Human pathogens transmitted via blood and other organs: Hepatitis C, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) agent (via cornea transplant)
Human pathogens transmitted via other body fluids and excretions: norovirus (vomit), Staphylococcus aureus (pus)
Zoonotic pathogens: pathogens transmitted from animals to humans such as the West Nile Fever virus, avian influenza A (H5N1) virus
Biologically produced disease agents: allergens, mycotoxins, seafood toxins Plant pathogens: Phakopsora pachyrhizi (the fungus that causes Asian soybean rust), tobacco mosaic virus (e.g., in tomatoes)
Animal pathogens: Classical Swine Fever (Hog Cholera) virus, Newcastle disease virus (e.g., in poultry)
Plant pests: Ceratitis capitata (Mediterranean fruit fly), nematodes Animal pests: Cochliomyia hominivorax (screw-worm fly, an ectoparasite of warm-blooded animals),
Haematobia irritans (hom fly, a bloodfeeding pest ofcattle)
Invasive species: Dreissena polymorpha (zebra mussel), Pueraria montana
(kudzu)
Invasive genetic material: promiscuous plasmids that confer antibiotic resistance.
The SRA 2005 Annual Meeting that will take place at the Wyndham Palace, Orlando Florida, December 4-7, 2005 contains a number of symposia of particular interest to the Biological Stressor Specialty Group
Members:
25 Years of Food Safety Risk Analysis: Has Our Food Gotten Safer? Chaired by Felicia Wu and Jim Wilson
Assessing and Managing Risks from Introduced Species, Chaired by Todd Bridges
Risk Assessment of Cyanobacterial Toxins in Drinking and Recreational Water, Chaired by Anthony Fristachi and Igor Linkov
Risk Assessment for Biological Stressors: Past, Present, and Future, Chaired by Mark Powell.
Questions? Contact the specialty group officers
Chair: Ewen Todd, PhD Vice Chair: Felicia Wu, Ph D Secretary: Mark Powell, Ph D |
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For problems or questions regarding this web contact Cristina McLaughlin
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