Library

This testimony discusses our report on a national strategy for high-containment laboratories that deal with dangerous–pathogens also known as biosafety level-3 (BSL-3) laboratories and biosafety level-4 (BSL-4) laboratories–in the United States, which was released yesterday. The number of high-containment laboratories that work with dangerous biological pathogens have proliferated in recent years. In 2007, we reported  Read More »

DHS is proposing to move foot-and mouth disease (FMD) research from its current location at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center–located on a federally owned island off the northern tip of Long Island, New York–and potentially onto the United States mainland. FMD is the most highly infectious animal disease that is known. Nearly 100 percent  Read More »

In response to the global spread of emerging infectious diseases and the threat of bioterrorism, high-containment biosafety laboratories (BSL)–specifically biosafety level (BSL)-3 and BSL-4–have been proliferating in the United States. These labs–classified by the type of agents used and the risk posed to personnel, the environment, and the community–often contain the most dangerous infectious disease  Read More »

The livestock industry, which contributes over $100 billion annually to the national economy, is vulnerable to foreign animal diseases that, if introduced in the United States, could cause severe economic losses. To protect against such losses, critical research and diagnostic activities are conducted at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York. The Department  Read More »