# 4291
A story from practically out of my own backyard. Only about an hour away.
The University of Florida in Gainesville opened their new EPI (Emerging Pathogens Institute) facility yesterday. The EPI is now poised to become one of the top bio-level 3 (and lower) research facilities in the country.
A nice profile of this institute appears Monday’s Gainesville Sun.
UF's EPI poised to fight tomorrow's diseases
By Diane Chun
Staff writerPublished: Monday, January 25, 2010 at 6:57 p.m.
Within these walls, researchers are preparing to do battle with the next wave of infectious diseases that could plague our times.
The Emerging Pathogens Institute on the University of Florida campus will be dedicated today. The $60 million facility provides a one-of-a-kind defense system against the dangerous microorganisms that arrive and thrive in Florida's semi-tropical climate.
"We are a tourist center with a constant influx of people from throughout the world, bringing with them all sorts of microorganisms, some of which can create problems," says Dr. Glenn Morris, director of the institute. "If you live in Maine, you don't have to worry about this stuff."
"This stuff" can include malaria, swine flu, Salmonella or E. coli contamination of our food; citrus cancer, blight or greening that could destroy one of Florida's key crops; or animal diseases that can spread to humans, such as West Nile virus.
"Florida is a magnet for pathogens that pose a threat not only to people but also to agricultural mainstays and to our native ecosystem," UF Vice President of Research Win Phillips said. "We've already seen the consequences. The Emerging Pathogens Institute will help us understand and contain future threats."
Emerging Pathogens Institute at a glance
• Focuses on new infectious diseases of humans, plants and animals.
• Built at a cost of about $60 million.
• 28 biological safety labs, levels 2 and 3.
• 3 biosafety level 3 greenhouses.
• Research collaborations in 32 countries.
• On the Web at www.epi.ufl.edu
Emerging pathogens:
• Infectious diseases include cholera, malaria, tuberculosis, swine flu, Salmonella or anti-microbial drug resistance, E. coli contamination of food.
• Plant diseases include citrus canker, blight and greening, sudden oak death, soybean rust, Pierce's disease of grapes.
• Animal diseases that can affect humans include avian influenza (bird flu), bovine spongiform encephalitis (mad cow disease), Rift Valley fever, Nipah virus and West Nile virus.
I’ll put the EPI link in my sidebar today. You’ll find the EPI web site below.
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