What publication gives detailed descriptions of the different biosafety levels that are used to describe work with infectious agents?

• A. Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories
• B. Occupational Health and Safety in the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals
• C. Guide to the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals
• D. U.S. Government Principles for the Utilization and Care of Vertebrate Animals Used in Testing, Research, and Training

Answer: (A)

The main concept being tested is knowing the standard reference that defines containment levels for work with infectious agents. Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories is the authoritative publication that outlines the biosafety levels (BSL-1 through BSL-4) and explains the corresponding facility features, practices, equipment, PPE, and training required for handling different agents. It provides guidance on when to escalate containment based on agent risk, plus incident response and program components for maintaining biosafety in labs. The other publications focus on animal care, welfare, or occupational health in animal research rather than providing the framework for containment levels of infectious agents, so they don’t serve as the reference for biosafety level descriptions.