BioterrorismKansas State takes over pathogen research from Plum Island
As New York’s Plum Island Animal Disease Center begins to shut down, much of its pathogen work will be transferred to Kansas State University’s Biosecurity Research Institute in preparation for the opening of DHS’ new National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in nearby Manhattan, Kansas
As New York’s Plum Island Animal Disease Center begins to shut down, much of its pathogen work will be transferred to Kansas State University’s Biosecurity Research Institute in preparation for the opening of DHS’ new National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in nearby Manhattan, Kansas.
The NBAF is currently under construction and will not be fully operational until 2018, so to minimize any disruption, much of the work done at Plum Island, an aging major biosafety level 3 animal disease research facility, will be transferred to Kansas State University.
Stephen Higgs, the research director at the Biosecurity Research Institute (BRI) at Kansas State, recently spent two weeks at Plum Island discussing the transition process.
“Essentially the BRI is going to be a springboard to get NBAF research going as soon as possible after it opens,” Higgs said. “As Plum Island ramps down, we are making sure that there is not a drop-off in research and training on these pathogens. That’s important because we cannot afford to have a period where there’s not work being done on these diseases should one of them happen to come to America.”
So far no date has been finalized for when research will be transferred to BRI, but researchers in Kansas have already begun work on projects related to current disease studies at Plum Island like African swine fever and high-path avian influenza.
Researchers at Kansas State have also been installing specialized equipment to study diseases like the newly purchased insectary, which will help scientists work on insect-spread diseases like Rift Valley fever and blue tongue virus.
Higgs said all of these developments have greatly benefited Kansas State by creating new research opportunities.
“Moving these projects from Plum Island to the BRI really opens up new possibilities for infectious disease research at K-State that hasn’t been possible in the past,” Higgs said. “These are high priority pathogens of major concern because they are a threat to our agricultural system. I really see this as being a whole new era at Kansas State University.”
