Direct contact of skin or mucous membranes with infectious materials, accidental parenteral inoculation, ingestion, and exposure to aerosols and infectious droplets have resulted in infection. Cultures have been more commonly associated with infection than clinical materials and infected animals. Biosafety Level 2 practices, containment equipment and facilities are recommended for activities with clinical materials of human or animal origin containing or potentially containing Francisella tularensis. Biosafety Level 3 and Animal Biosafety Level 3 practices, containment equipment and facilities are recommended, respectively, for all manipulations of cultures and for experimental animal studies. It is recommended for persons working with the agent or infected animals, and for persons working in or entering the laboratory or animal room where cultures or infected animals are maintained.
Leptospirosis is a well-documented laboratory hazard.
Direct and indirect contact with fluids and tissues of experimentally or naturally infected mammals during handling, care, or necropsy is a potential source of infection. In animals with chronic kidney infections, the agent is shed in the urine in enormous numbers for long periods of time. The agent may be present in urine, blood, and tissues of infected animals and humans. The importance of aerosol exposure is not known. Biosafety Level 2 practices, containment equipment and facilities are recommended for all activities involving the use or manipulation of known or potentially infectious tissues, body fluids, and cultures, and for the housing of infected animals.