Which Of The Following Federal Laboratories Will Replace The Plum Island Animal Disease Center?
About Hazardous Animal Disease Lab Can't Be Built on Plum Island
America's riskiest animate being disease research can be housed in less infinite than the $ane.14 billion facility planned for structure in Manhattan, KS, says a bluish chip panel of scientists from the National Inquiry Council. And, their report also reveals, the U.S. Section of Homeland Security believes that "given the need for local credence," a summit level biosecurity level four (BSL-4) laboratory cannot exist included in whatever renovation of the 55-year-old Plum Isle Beast Disease Center (PIADC). The 1.3 foursquare mile Plum Island is located in Gardiners Bay off the eastern end of New York'south Long Island. USDA is currently in its 6th decade of animal disease research recognized around the earth for its excellence on Plum Isle, but its 77,000 foursquare anxiety of BSL-ii and BSL-three laboratories are both aging and inadequate. Homeland Security'southward plan, endorsed by USDA, is to supervene upon the PIADC with the new National Bio and Agro Defence Facility (NBAF) on 45 acres donated by Kansas State University in Manhattan with about 105,000 square anxiety of with BSL-two, 3, and 4 protections. Kansas wants the well-paying jobs the new federal labs volition bring to the Sunflower state. 1000-Country already has a 113,000 foursquare pes BSL-3 facility for agriculture, which helped many warm to the thought of having more labs. Kansas Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and GOP Senators Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran want Homeland Security to move ahead with the land transfer and start utility construction with funds already appropriated past Congress. Nevertheless, the NRC report says $824 one thousand thousand remains to be funded, and that price tag is why the panel was asked to expect for cheaper alternatives. It really only looked at two: a scaled-down NBAF in Manhattan and renovation of PIADC, using foreign lab capabilities to make upwards for the fact that Homeland Security does not even want to try building BSL-4 labs on Plum Island. Building the NBAF equally designed is an option with many advantages, co-ordinate to the console, including in-country infrastructure to handle foreign fauna and zoonotic disease threats. Even so, it comes with "substantial costs" for construction, operation and maintenance and program development. Equally for the cheaper alternatives, the panel principally looked at an option that calls for reducing the size of the NBAF through more "collaborations" with other federal and university labs. Left as Plum Island is now, the NBAF would be the sole site in the U.S. canonical to work with human foot and mouth disease virus. By reducing the labs planned for Manhattan by 15-25 percent, the federal government might cut every bit much as $111 one thousand thousand from the cost of completing the NBAF, co-ordinate to the study. The savings, however, might come with a toll. Specifically the report says the U.Due south. would face "a theoretical possibility that system capacity could be overloaded or insufficient in the effect of simultaneous illness outbreaks." It suggested the U.S. negotiate a memorandum of understanding with domestic and foreign labs for emergencies. Plum Island currently costs the U.Due south. $50 million in lab performance and $six 1000000 for security, non counting program costs. Many improvements are needed – such equally a liquid waste decontamination facility, harbor upgrades, technology and building renovations, besides as hardening of security, detection and access control. Some other $210 meg could keep Plum Isle open for another 25 years. The panel, however, concludes that it is "imperative" to build BLS-4 large animate being space in the U.Due south., and if that'due south off the table at Plum Island, it is non worth the savings that would come with scrapping NBAF in Kansas Plum Island's big deficiency now is its lack of a biocontainment facility for animate being and zoonotic disease. In its written report, the console does non actually recommend cuts to the proposed NBAF. Information technology just points out there are some possible duplications among various federal and academy labs. Previous NRC reports nearly the NBAF were essentially take a chance assessments. The first in 2010 reviewed the designs and constitute in that location was 70 per centum change that human foot and oral cavity disease could exist released from the facility at some betoken in the 50 year life of the facility. Concluding calendar month, the 2d report said pattern improvements meant less gamble. Plum Island did experience an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in 1978, something that has not been experienced on the U.South. mainland since 1929. That was earlier cattle were moved indoors to contained cells. Foot and mouth is an infectious and sometimes fatal illness that affects cloven-hoofed animals. It is only i of 116 animate being diseases that threaten farm animals, according to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). Near 25 diseases occur in multiple animal species. While USDA is focused on protecting the $165 billion U.S. livestock herd, Homeland Security is concerned well-nigh livestock and poultry beingness used in biological terrorism. The panel notes such "high-priority pathogens" equally Nipah virus, Hendra virus, and Rift Valley fever virus equally zoonotic agents. PIADC declines to proper name the pathogens currently on the island that eventually will have to be moved to Kansas.
Source: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/07/a-110-million-cut-in-animal-disease-lab-possible-says-panel/
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