Biocontainment

The National Institutes of Health will seek input on the attributes of the Personnel Reliability Program on April 3, 2009. The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) will be making a set of recommendations regarding personnel reliability programs for individuals who would work with select agents. A portion of their recommendations will address the measures that institutions should undertake to assess whether individuals are trustworthy and reliable to work with these agents.

Two select agent and biosafety bills were proposed in Congress in February of 2009. In the Senate, the Select Agent Program and Biosafety Improvement Act of 2009 would monitor federal oversight of biocontainment laboratories, improve training, and create a system for accident reporting. The act would also provide funding for the U.S. Select Agent Program.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have initiated construction on a $14 million laboratory project in Fort Collins, Colo. Located in shell space on the fourth floor of the CDC’s existing facility, the facility will house moderate to high level biocontainment labs, offices, and support. The project team includes general contractor JE Dunn Construction Company and design-build partner Smith Carter Architects and Engineers. Completion is expected in January of 2010.

The University of Oxford opened the £5 million Jenner Institute Laboratories in February of 2009 in the United Kingdom. The facility features laboratories for vaccine research and development for diseases including malaria, tuberculosis, HIV, and bird flu. The Jenner Institute is a partnership between Oxford University and the Institute for Animal Health (IAH). The facility integrates basic science research in immunology and genetics with clinical vaccine development and commercialization.

The Mississippi State Department of Health officially broke ground on its $25 million Public Health Laboratory in Jackson in February of 2009. The 60,000-sf facility is slated for completion in September of 2010 and will house laboratories for the identification and detection of infectious diseases, environmental contaminants, and biological terrorism agents.

The United States Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) temporarily suspended research at its Fort Detrick laboratory in early 2009 to perform a select agent inventory assessment. The inventory review will involve locating every sample listed in the laboratory’s database. Animal care and crucial animal research will continue at the facility during the inventory process.

Pennsylvania State University is planning to construct a BSL-3 laboratory on its University Park campus. The 15,000-sf facility will support biodefense, agricultural, and zoonotic research, enabling the university to compete for federal funding supporting select agent and infectious disease research. Penn State operates an existing BSL-2 research laboratory.

The Allegheny County Health Department will open a $5.6 million biocontainment laboratory in Lawrenceville, Pa., in February of 2009. Part of the CDC’s Laboratory Response Network, the BSL-3 facility will support testing of specimens and samples that may contain infectious diseases or potential bioterrorism agents such as anthrax. The two-story laboratory is part of the Clack Health Center.

The Department of Homeland Security has selected Manhattan, Kansas, as the site for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility. Located at Kansas State University (KSU), the $650 million, 500,000-sf laboratory will accommodate research on zoonotic and foreign animal diseases. The National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility will be comprised of two laboratory buildings and four outbuildings. The main lab will provide BSL-2, BSL-3, BSL-3Ag, and BSL-4 space with the second lab building housing small-scale vaccine and reagent production.

DNAVision, an applied genetics and genomics services company, completed an expansion of its campus in Charleroi-Gosselies, Belgium, in January of 2009. Doubling laboratory and office space, the project added five new lab areas for cell culture and nucleic acid extraction. Supporting the company’s RNA- and DNA-based analytical techniques, the expansion will enable DNAVision to provide GMP certified assays. Additionally, subsidiary DNAVision AgriFood will relocate to a new facility in early 2009.

The Philippines' Department of Agriculture opened a P7-million avian influenza testing facility in Zamboanga City in December of 2008. The laboratory is a joint project of the Department of Agriculture and the Japanese government. Zamboanga Peninsula is in an area considered vulnerable among by the National Avian Influenza Task Force (NAITF) due to its proximity to Malaysia and Indonesia.

The British Columbia Agricultural Council completed a $14 million CL-3 testing laboratory at the Animal Health Centre in Abbotsford in December of 2008. The veterinary diagnostic laboratory will test animal samples for infectious diseases and features sophisticated air filtration, waste handling, and decontamination systems. Construction began on the project in December of 2006. Operations will begin at the new facility in early 2009 following commissioning by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Yale University’s new BSL-3 laboratory will open in early 2009. Located on the ninth floor of the School of Public Health building in New Haven, Conn., the facility will support animal and non-animal research on infectious diseases including West Nile Virus, SARS, Yellow Fever, and anthrax. The laboratory features a single-pass airflow system, waterproof ceilings, and completely sealed penetrations.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture broke ground on a new animal health diagnostic laboratory in December of 2008. The BSL-3 facility is located near the Pennsylvania Veterinary Laboratory in Harrisburg and will provide laboratories for animal disease testing and diagnosis. The project is part of the statewide Animal Health and Diagnostic Commission which includes the Pennsylvania Veterinary Laboratory in Harrisburg, the Animal Diagnostic Laboratory at Penn State University, and facilities at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center.

The CDC’s Division of Select Agents and Toxins has awarded SRA International a $24.9 million contract to provide laboratory support services to the Select Agent Program. Awarded in September of 2008, the five-year contract is a recompete of work the company has supported since 2002 through the acquisition of Constella Group. Under the contract, SRA will continue to help CDC track the possession, use, and transfer of select agents in the U.S.