Everywhere you look: select agent pathogens.

The United States regulates more than 80 human, animal, and plant pathogens as part of the Select Agent Program, imposing strict controls on access by U.S. researchers and laboratories. However, almost all of these pathogens are also found in nature. The map at the end of this article (see supplementary material at http://www .liebertonline.com/doi/suppl/10.1089/bsp.2011.0321/suppl_ file/Supp_Data.pdf) depicts the countries in which select agent pathogens caused disease between January 1, 2009, and October 31, 2010. Although pathogen security measures justifiably have been strengthened since 2001, the widespread natural occurrence of these pathogens indicates an inherent limitation of the regulations.