Infectious Substance

Division 6.2 Infectious substance:

• Defined in 49CFR173.134

• A material known or reasonably expected to contain a pathogen.

  • A pathogen is a microorganism (including bacteria, viruses, rickettsiae, parasites, fungi) or other agent, such as a proteinaceous infectious particle (prion), that can cause disease in humans or animals.

• An infectious substance must be assigned the identification number UN 2814, UN 2900, UN 3373, or UN 3291 as appropriate, and must be assigned to one of the following categories: Category A or Category B. Category A infectious substances pose a higher degree of risk than Category B infectious substances.