Proposed changes to the select agent rules 42CFR73, 7CFR331, and 9CFR121 were published in early September of 2007, reflecting the biennial review of the select agents and toxins lists. The main changes proposed are to the plant pathogen list with some movement of HHS/USDA overlap agents onto solely the HHS list. Comments on the proposed changes can be submitted on the APHIS website until 10/29/07.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology directorate is exploring possible sites for its proposed $500 million National Bio and Agro Defense Facility (NBAF). Locations include Flora, Miss.; Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan.; Texas Research Park in San Antonio; Umstead Research Farm, N.C.; the University of Georgia in Athens; and Plum Island, N.Y., the location of the existing BSL-3 Animal Disease Center which the NBAF will replace.
The World Health Organization's 2007 report states that infectious diseases are emerging more rapidly and spreading more quickly due to increased human mobility and travel. As the increasing risk of disease outbreaks and epidemics escalates, these health emergencies can become threats to global public health security. The World Health Report 2007 examines contemporary infectious disease trends and examines the revised International Health Regulations (2005), which came into force in 2007, as a tool for health risk identification and management.
The University of Delaware has been allocated $100,000 in federal funding to upgrade its biocontainment facilities and diagnostic avian flu laboratories. The grant is part of $450,000 that the State of Delaware will receive for avian flu preparedness and irrigation system upgrades.
The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University has achieved a LEED Platinum rating from the U.S. Green Building Council for the Biodesign Institute Building B, which opened in 2006. Building A, which opened in 2004, received Gold level certification. The two buildings were constructed separately, but are connected on all levels by glass walkways. The Biodesign Institute facilities were designed by the architectural team of Gould Evans and Lord, Aeck & Sargent.
The State of Maryland has chosen Gilbane Building Company to provide CM at Risk services for the new $37 million Forensic Medical Center. The facility will serve as the headquarters for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) of Maryland. The facility will be six stories totaling 120,000 sf with an area that will meet BSL-3 containment requirements. The architect for the facility is Gaudreau, Inc., with Gilbane’s Mid-Atlantic regional office overseeing the work.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture dedicated its high containment large animal facility in Ames, Iowa in July of 2007. As the second component of a multi-phase, $460 million project, the state-of-the-art animal health center will accommodate research on a variety of endemic, zoonotic and foreign animal diseases. Housing BSL-3 laboratories, the facility was constructed in three and a half years and cost approximately $85 million. The new building contains more than 155,000 sf and will house cattle, bison, elk, deer, reindeer, sheep and hogs.
At a Congressional hearing in late July of 2007, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security established a research committee to explore ways of adapting the regulations for the storage of chemicals and hazardous materials for college campuses. As the cost and effort of complying with federal regulations for chemical storage can be extensive, the working group will review and revise the regulations in order to create a standard appropriate for university laboratories and facilities.
UC Davis completed construction of the 125,000-sf Veterinary Medicine III A building in summer of 2007. The $77 million facility houses classrooms and research space to enable consolidation of the School of Veterinary Medicine in a single location. The project began construction in March of 2002 and was publicly funded.
Cornell University celebrated the opening of the 79,000-square-foot East Campus Research Facility (ECRF) on June 26, 2007. Housing approximately 45,000 mice, including transgenic strains, the $55-million building will also accommodate rats, woodchucks, guinea pigs, hamsters, and chickens. Part of Cornell's $600-million New Life Sciences Initiative, the consolidated animal research facility was five years in the making and is expected to be fully operational in fall of 2007. The project was designed by Philadelphia-based Ballinger.
The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth opened its new bioengineering, molecular biology, and cell biology research facility in April of 2007. Home of the National Botulism Research Center, the $14.4 million high-security building will accommodate biotechnology and biochemistry research. The 22,081-sf project was designed by Architectural Resources Cambridge with modular, flexible laboratories and extensive safety measures including the use of exterior concrete barriers.
The long-awatited 5th edition of the Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL) guide is now online on the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at www.cdc.gov/od/ohs/biosfty/bmbl5/bmbl5toc.htm .
UC Davis is proposing to construct five new buildings at the California National Primate Research Center in Davis, Calif. A $5.3-million, 10,000-sf building would accommodate virology and immunology research and would include a 1,100-sf BSL-3 laboratory. Four additional modular buildings would have a footprint of approximately 1,500 sf each, two comprised of laboratory space and two housing office space. Each of the modular buildings would cost approximately $800,000.
Iowa State University (ISU) began construction in late 2006 on the first phase of a $51-million renovation of its Veterinary Diagnostics Laboratory and Veterinary Teaching Hospital. The project includes renovations to the existing 100,000-sf facility and a 55,000-sf addition housing an advanced imaging facility with improved biocontainment capabilities. The second project phase entails renovations of a vacant small animal facility to enable future expansion. Both phases are expected to reach completion in late 2009.
George Mason University (GMU) has opened the 98,974-sf Research I facility in Fairfax, Va. The $21.7-million facility features an astronomical observatory tower and telescope dome, faculty offices, laboratories, and research facilities for the College of Science, including the Center for Earth Observing and Space Research, the Center for Quantum Studies, and the Center for History and New Media. The project began construction in 2003 and opened for classes in fall of 2006.
