Category A Infectious Microorganisms

Last updated on June 21st, 2021

 A category A substance (pathogen or agent) is “an infectious substance which is transported in a form that, when exposure to it occurs, is capable of causing permanent disability or life-threatening or fatal disease to otherwise healthy humans or animals”. Deciding if an infectious substance is a Category A substance is relatively easy because there are relatively few Category A substances and because Category A substances are specifically designated and listed by IATA and DOT. The list of Category A substances is not all-inclusive, and a thorough risk assessment must be performed before assigning a substance to Category A. 

UN Numbers of Category A Pathogens

Category A pathogens and substances likely to contain Category A pathogens must be assigned the UN number UN2814 (proper shipping name: Infectious Substance, Affecting Humans) or UN2900 (proper shipping name: Infectious Substance, Affecting Animals). If a Category A pathogen/substance is capable of causing disease in both humans and animals, the pathogen/substance must be shipped as a Category A substance affecting humans (UN2814). 

Examples of infectious substances included in Category A are:

1. Bacillus anthracis (cultures only)
2. Brucella abortus (cultures only)
3. Brucella melitensis (cultures only)
4. Brucella suis (cultures only)
5. Burkholderia mallei (cultures only)
6. Burkholderia pseudomallei (cultures only)
7. Chalamydia psittaci (avian) (cultures only)
8. Clostridium botulinum (cultures only)
9. Coccidioides immitis (cultures only)
10. Coxiella burnetii (cultures only)
11. Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus
12. Dengue virus (cultures only)
13. Eastern equine encephalitis virus (culture only)
14. Escherichia coli, verotoxigenic (cultures only)
15. Ebola virus
16. Francisella tularensis (cultures only)
17. Hantavirus causing hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome
18. Hepatitis B virus (cultures only)
19. Herpes B virus (cultures only)
20. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (cultures only)
21. Lassa virus
22. Marburg virus
23. Monkeypox virus
24. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (cultures only)
25. Poliovirus virus (cultures only)
26. Rabies virus (cultures only)
27. Rickettsia rickettsii (cultures only)
28. Rift Valley fever virus (cultures only)
29. Shigella dysenteriae type 1 (cultures only)
30. Variola virus
31. Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (cultures only)
32. West Nile virus (cultures only)
33. Yellow fever virus (cultures only)
34. Yersinia pestis (cultures only)
35. Classical swine fever virus (cultures only)
36. Foot and mouth disease virus (cultures only)
37. Goat pox virus (cultures only)
38. Lumpy skin disease virus (cultures only)
39. Newcastle disease virus (cultures only)
40. Sheep pox virus (cultures only)
41. Swine vesicular disease virus (cultures only)
42. Vesicular stomatitis virus (cultures only)

Source: American Society for Microbiology