High-Containment Facilities Allow Study, Advances in
Dangerous Diseases
The ARS national programs on
Animal
Health and
Arthropod
Pests of Animals and Humans provide research that is key to protecting
American livestock and poultry from devastating disease epidemics. That’s
because widespread travel, changing weather patterns, intensive agriculture,
increased trade, and loss of animal genetic diversity increase the likelihood
that an infectious disease could spread rapidly or that an outbreak of an
exotic or zoonotic disease could take place. Zoonotic diseases can spread from
animals to humans.
ARS scientists have long been at the forefront of
studying high-impact, infectious diseases-- bluetongue, bovine tuberculosis,
foot-and-mouth disease, brucellosis, Newcastle disease, and newly emerging
diseases such as West Nile virus.
The most dangerous infectious diseases of animals are
exactly the ones we most need to understand. But just studying these diseases
can pose a risk. To allow researchers to study highly contagious diseases--or
those for which we lack sufficient transmission information--ARS maintains
specialized research laboratories with elaborate safety procedures. These are
high-tech facilities that protect both animals and people. The following ARS
locations have Biosafety Level 3-Agriculture biocontainment facilities:
In essence, the BL3-ag designation means that air as
well as all liquid and solid waste leaving the laboratory are treated to ensure
that none of the disease agents or vectors being studied leave the laboratory.
Key features for high-containment facilities include buildings with solid-wall
construction and controlled access. Exhaust air is filtered, waste is treated
to inactivate infectious agents, equipment is decontaminated, and personnel
follow strict safety and hygienic procedures. Airflow inside the buildings is
controlled to maintain an inward flow, preventing accidental escape of
potentially infectious agents.
Plum Island has the added isolation provided by the
island location. ABADRL institutes additional procedures to prevent insect
escape and sits at an elevation inhospitable to the main vectors studied there.
In all cases, the goal is to provide scientists with the ability to study
diseases without jeopardizing the safety of agriculture in surrounding areas.
Several other ARS laboratories maintain facilities with lower biocontainment
level designations because they work with endemic diseases of lower risk to
domestic animal agriculture
NADC and Plum Island share facilities with the
USDA’s Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service. APHIS is responsible for the diagnosis of foreign
animal diseases like foot- and-mouth disease, studied at Plum Island, and
domestic disease eradication programs, such as that for bovine tuberculosis,
one of the research areas at NADC.
Scientists at the ABADRL work on diseases that require
both an animal host and an insect vector to survive, like bluetongue. The SEPRL
focuses on virulent avian diseases like avian influenza.
Over the years, these facilities have allowed ARS
researchers to study dangerous diseases in intimate detail, providing tools and
knowledge that keep U.S. livestock safe. Just a few examples of recent
accomplishments include:
All the laboratories upgrade their facilities on an
ongoing basis as budgets allow and technology demands. The Laramie facility
recently installed a first-of-its-kind tissue digester as a cleaner and less
expensive alternative to incineration for sterilizing biological materials.
For more information on these facilities, contact:
Geoff Letchworth,
Laramie, WY
Keith Murray,
Ames, IA
David Huxsoll,
Orient Point, NY
David Swayne,
Athens, GA
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Research Briefs
A new, ARS-developed
vaccine against
Staphylococcus aureas may help cure and protect against intractable
mastitis cases.
Albert Guidry
(301) 504-8285
Genetics influence sheep
dietary preferences, ARS researchers found. That opens the door for
selecting sheep to prefer more nutritous forage.
Gary Snowder
(208) 374-5306
A
new, computerized collar for herding cattle may be less stressful to the
animals than traditional techniques. The collar uses electronic whispers to
give cues when a cow strays.
Dean Anderson
(505) 646-5190
A
new ARS-developed diet for screwworms is expected to reduce the cost of
raising the insects. The flies are sterlized and released in long-term,
mating-disruption programs. The program has already eradicated screwworms from
the United States, Mexico and most of Central America.
Muhammad Chaudhury
011-529-614-1441
Japanese brome can provide livestock nutrition for a short
time. ARS researchers are developing
tools to help producers
manage the brome, along with native grasses, for forage.
Marshall
Haferkamp
(406) 432-8211
Awards
Robert
Kraeling, Animal Physiology Research Unit,
was elected to the Polish Academy of Sciences for his scientific contributions
to the understanding of mechanisms by which an animal’s brain controls
secretion of pituitary gland hormones important for reproduction and
growth.
David Suarez,
Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory, won
ARS’ T.W.
Edminster Award for the top-ranked research proposal for 2001. The award
supports a postdoctoral researcher to work for two years with Suarez to develop
a system to help study how avian influenza virus causes disease.
Healthy Animals
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