Biodefense

NIAID Category A, B, and C Priority Pathogens

Category A

• Bacillus anthracis (anthrax)
• Clostridium botulinum toxin (botulism)
• Yersinia pestis (plague)
• Variola major (smallpox) and other related pox viruses
• Francisella tularensis (tularemia)
• Viral hemorrhagic fevers
• Arenaviruses
• LCM, Junin virus, Machupo virus, Guanarito virus
• Lassa Fever
• Bunyaviruses
• Hantaviruses
• Rift Valley Fever
• Flaviruses
• Dengue
• Filoviruses
• Ebola
• Marburg

Category B

• Burkholderia pseudomallei
• Coxiella burnetii (Q fever)
• Brucella species (brucellosis)
• Burkholderia mallei (glanders)
• Chlamydia psittaci (Psittacosis)
• Ricin toxin (from Ricinus communis)
• Epsilon toxin of Clostridium perfringens
• Staphylococcus enterotoxin B
• Typhus fever (Rickettsia prowazekii)
• Food- and Waterborne Pathogens
• Bacteria
• Diarrheagenic E.coli
• Pathogenic Vibrios
• Shigella species
• Salmonella
• Listeria monocytogenes
• Campylobacter jejuni
• Yersinia enterocolitica)
• Viruses (Caliciviruses, Hepatitis A)
• Protozoa
• Cryptosporidium parvum
• Cyclospora cayatanensis
• Giardia lamblia
• Entamoeba histolytica
• Toxoplasma
• Fungi
• Microsporidia
• Additional viral encephalitides
• West Nile Virus
• LaCrosse
• California encephalitis
• VEE
• EEE
• WEE
• Japanese Encephalitis Virus
• Kyasanur Forest Virus

Category C

Emerging infectious disease threats such as Nipah virus and additional hantaviruses.

NIAID priority areas:

• Tickborne hemorrhagic fever viruses
• Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic fever virus
• Tickborne encephalitis viruses
• Yellow fever
• Multi-drug resistant TB
• Influenza
• Other Rickettsias
• Rabies
• Prions
• Chikungunya virus
• Severe acute respiratory syndrome associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV)
• Antimicrobial resistance, excluding research on sexually transmitted organisms*
• Research on mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance

• Studies of the emergence and/or spread of antimicrobial resistance genes within pathogen populations

• Studies of the emergence and/or spread of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens in human populations

• Research on therapeutic approaches that target resistance mechanisms

• Modification of existing antimicrobials to overcome emergent resistance

• Antimicrobial research, as related to engineered threats and naturally occurring drug-resistant pathogens, focused on development of broad-spectrum antimicrobials
• Innate immunity, defined as the study of nonadaptive immune mechanisms that recognize, and respond to, microorganisms, microbial products, and antigens
• Coccidioides immitis (added February 2008)
• Coccidioides posadasii (added February 2008)

*NIAID Category C Antimicrobial Resistance—Sexually Transmitted Excluded Organisms

Bacterial vaginosis, Chlamydia trachomatis, Cytomegalovirus, Granuloma inguinale, Hemophilus ducreyi, Hepatitis B virus, Hepatitis C virus, Herpes Simplex virus, Human immunodeficiency virus, Human papillomavirus, Neisseria gonorrhea, Treponema pallidum, Trichomonas vaginalis

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