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Michigan State is site of new bioterrorism center

Michigan State University is the site of a new center to develop a global strategy for responding to bioterrorism threats and outbreaks of infectious disease.

The $10 million Center for Advancing Microbial Risk Assessment is funded by the U-S Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.

Directors will be Dr. Joan Rose, a water microbiologist scientist at Michigan State, and Dr. Charles Hass, a professor of environmental engineering at Drexel University in Philadelphia, The Detroit News reported Tuesday.

"We want to make sure that first responders, regulators, policy makers and health care professionals have the tools they need to make decisions quickly when they see the potential for microbial outbreaks," Rose said. "The best way to do that is through early detection and a deeper understanding of how these diseases spread."

Officials announced the center on Monday.

The EPA has identified several threats as needing additional study; they include anthrax, smallpox, botulism, plague, viral hemorrhagic fever and tularemia. The center also will assess risk of exposure to bacteria and viruses in the air, water and soil, and on hard surfaces.

The center will bring together scientists at Michigan State and Drexel, as well as the University of Michigan, Carnegie Mellon University, Northern Arizona University, the University of Arizona and the University of California at Berkley.

The center is funded for five years and a university spokeswoman said work has already begun.
http://www.tkb.org/NewsStory.jsp?storyID=91676