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NBAF selection process update
The selection process for the location of the proposed National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, or NBAF, is still underway. NBAF would be a research facility for studying foreign animal and zoonotic diseases diseases that are transmitted from animals to humans. Manhattan is one of six locations being considered.
There is a federal research lab located on Plum Island, off the tip of New York's Long Island, but it does not meet Department of Homeland Security requirements in the area of foreign animal diseases; in fact no lab in the U.S. meets the new requirements. DHS spokesman John Verrico says that is why NBAF is needed.
Verrico: It's the only lab that would be able to do it because other laboratories in this country there are none large enough at a BSL level 4 of security that would be able to handle livestock animals.
BSL-4 is the highest bio-safety level, in which microorganisms that pose a risk for life-threatening disease and that have no known vaccine are studied. Diseases studied in BSL-3 labs do have some vaccines. Foot and Mouth Disease is studied in a BSL-3 Ag lab. A study by the Government Accountability Office released in May concluded that DHS lacks evidence to conclude that Foot and Mouth Disease can be safely researched on the U.S. mainland. The only mainland lab that studies foot and mouth is in Winnipeg, Canada. The GAO says that the foot and mouth research in Winnipeg is of a lesser scope, and unlike the propose U.S. sites, the Winnipeg location is not in close proximity to animals. In Manhattan there is an informal group known as No NBAF that opposes the possibility of the NBAF lab being located in Manhattan partly because of this report. Tom Manney is a professor emeritus of biology at KSU and is the chair of No NBAF.
Tom Manney: Since the GAO is a much more independent and nonpolitical governmental entity we thought that that statement should be given a lot more weight and consideration than it was being given by planners and proponents.
Manney says that in cattle and pork country, the No NBAF members do not want the possibility of livestock exposure to Foot and Mouth. According to the DHS website Foot and Mouth is considered to be one of the most contagious, infectious diseases known; cost estimates of an introduction of Foot and Mouth in the U.S. are more than $37 billion. Plum Island is the only proposed NBAF location that is not on the mainland and No NBAF group members think that is where NBAF should be. The Kansas Bioscience Authority is in partnership with Kansas State University to pursue the NBAF facility in Manhattan Kansas Bioscience Authority President Tom Thornton says that a human element, safety equipment, facility design, and physical security all go into the overall security of a biocontainment lab.
Thornton: The combination of these really is why these labs can be so safe and so secure and why research specifically in FMD and the other agents that will be researched at the NBAF have been without consequence here in the United States.
Thornton says that not only has Foot and Mouth research been without consequence, but work at Plum Island with a company called GenVac has resulted in a vaccine.
Thornton: There will be an efficacious vaccine against the known serotypes of FMD in the veterinary stockpile by 2010 and the date is important because that will be 5 years before the NBAF is actually completed.
Thornton says that the release of a vaccine does not mean that Foot and Mouth would not be studied at NBAF. Like the flu, Foot and Mouth can have multiple strains.
The process of picking the NBAF location is still underway. According to John Verrico of DHS, an open comment period ended August 25th, now all of those comments are being compiled and will be addressed. A final environmental impact statement is expected in early November; a decision on location is to come before the end of the year. For HPPR, I'm Lindsey Fields.
© Copyright 2012, hppr
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The selection process for the location of the proposed National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, or NBAF, is still underway. NBAF would be a research facility for studying foreign animal and zoonotic diseases diseases that are transmitted from animals to humans. Manhattan is one of six locations being considered.
There is a federal research lab located on Plum Island, off the tip of New York's Long Island, but it does not meet Department of Homeland Security requirements in the area of foreign animal diseases; in fact no lab in the U.S. meets the new requirements. DHS spokesman John Verrico says that is why NBAF is needed.
Verrico: It's the only lab that would be able to do it because other laboratories in this country there are none large enough at a BSL level 4 of security that would be able to handle livestock animals.
BSL-4 is the highest bio-safety level, in which microorganisms that pose a risk for life-threatening disease and that have no known vaccine are studied. Diseases studied in BSL-3 labs do have some vaccines. Foot and Mouth Disease is studied in a BSL-3 Ag lab. A study by the Government Accountability Office released in May concluded that DHS lacks evidence to conclude that Foot and Mouth Disease can be safely researched on the U.S. mainland. The only mainland lab that studies foot and mouth is in Winnipeg, Canada. The GAO says that the foot and mouth research in Winnipeg is of a lesser scope, and unlike the propose U.S. sites, the Winnipeg location is not in close proximity to animals. In Manhattan there is an informal group known as No NBAF that opposes the possibility of the NBAF lab being located in Manhattan partly because of this report. Tom Manney is a professor emeritus of biology at KSU and is the chair of No NBAF.
Tom Manney: Since the GAO is a much more independent and nonpolitical governmental entity we thought that that statement should be given a lot more weight and consideration than it was being given by planners and proponents.
Manney says that in cattle and pork country, the No NBAF members do not want the possibility of livestock exposure to Foot and Mouth. According to the DHS website Foot and Mouth is considered to be one of the most contagious, infectious diseases known; cost estimates of an introduction of Foot and Mouth in the U.S. are more than $37 billion. Plum Island is the only proposed NBAF location that is not on the mainland and No NBAF group members think that is where NBAF should be. The Kansas Bioscience Authority is in partnership with Kansas State University to pursue the NBAF facility in Manhattan Kansas Bioscience Authority President Tom Thornton says that a human element, safety equipment, facility design, and physical security all go into the overall security of a biocontainment lab.
Thornton: The combination of these really is why these labs can be so safe and so secure and why research specifically in FMD and the other agents that will be researched at the NBAF have been without consequence here in the United States.
Thornton says that not only has Foot and Mouth research been without consequence, but work at Plum Island with a company called GenVac has resulted in a vaccine.
Thornton: There will be an efficacious vaccine against the known serotypes of FMD in the veterinary stockpile by 2010 and the date is important because that will be 5 years before the NBAF is actually completed.
Thornton says that the release of a vaccine does not mean that Foot and Mouth would not be studied at NBAF. Like the flu, Foot and Mouth can have multiple strains.
The process of picking the NBAF location is still underway. According to John Verrico of DHS, an open comment period ended August 25th, now all of those comments are being compiled and will be addressed. A final environmental impact statement is expected in early November; a decision on location is to come before the end of the year. For HPPR, I'm Lindsey Fields.
© Copyright 2012, hppr
