No vaccines, no treatment, no countermeasures.
This description covers a number of the foreign animal diseases that scientists are studying now at Plum Island Animal Disease Center or will be studying in the future at the new National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility.
The NBAF will improve the capabilities of the Department of Agriculture to develop vaccines, conduct diagnostics, and train veterinarians in the recognition of foreign animal diseases.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has oversight of the facility on Plum Island, N.Y., announced recently that it is recommending Kansas State University as the site of the $650 billion replacement facility. The formal record of decision was not available at press time.
The university and its veterinary college stand to benefit from the NBAF, as do the region’s livestock and animal health industries.
And the nation will be readier for emerging animal diseases, some of which are likely to be zoonotic.
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