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Media Relations
Kansas State University
9 Anderson Hall
Manhattan, KS 66506
785-532-6415
media@k-state.edu

Information provided by K-State Media Relations, K-State's news service, may be reproduced without permission. The marks and names of Kansas State University are protected trademarks and may not be used in any commercial or private endeavor without the approval of the university.

Prepared by Robert L. (Bob) Larson. He holds the Edgar E. and M. Elizabeth Coleman Chair in Food Animal Production Medicine in K-State's College of Veterinary Medicine.

Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008

OPINION: SELECTION OF KANSAS AS PREFERRED SITE FOR NBAF A SOUND ONE TO PROTECT NATION'S AGRICULTURE

MANHATTAN -- Now that Kansas has been selected as the preferred site for the National Bio and Agro-defense Facility -- NBAF -- Kansas State University, Manhattan and the state of Kansas can begin enhancing the work that has been done at K-State for generations to protect the health of animals, the livelihood of livestock producers, and the food infrastructure of our nation.

The NBAF will provide a state-of-the-art facility to do the research necessary to enhance our region's and the nation's protection from diseases that could cause tremendous animal suffering and death, and extreme financial disruption that would ripple throughout the nation's economy.

Because of a combination of developing factors, such as increased world travel and trade, as well as the threat of terrorism aimed at agriculture, the risk of accidental or intentional introduction of animal disease to the U.S. is very real. This facility will complement the expertise already found at Kansas State in the areas of veterinary medicine, animal science, food safety, agricultural economics, and other basic sciences. With the establishment of the NBAF, the United States and Kansas State University are taking a proactive step to ensure that animals and the people who depend on them will be given the best protection that science can deliver.

In addition, by being located in the Animal Health Corridor that extends from Manhattan, Kan., through the Kansas City metropolitan area and St. Joseph, Mo., to the University of Missouri at Columbia, NBAF can leverage and utilize a concentration of knowledge and expertise in animal health maintenance and disease prevention that is unique in the world. This concentration of expertise will enhance the drive to develop solutions that meet the health protection needs of animal owners and the public.

This is truly a great day for U.S. livestock producers and all U.S. citizens and consumers. The NBAF will join the recently opened Biosecurity Research Institute in Pat Roberts Hall on the K-State campus to build upon a long-standing K-State commitment to combat animal disease. By combining the strengths of Kansas and Midwestern livestock producers, the scientists and administration at Kansas State University, and the expertise within the Animal Health Corridor, with the enhanced capability of the NBAF, we will all benefit from significantly improved protection from the threat of accidental or intentional introduction of foreign animal disease to U.S. soil.

Selection of Kansas as the preferred site for NBAF was sound because, with the Biosecurity Research Institute ready for research now, critical NBAF research could start tomorrow, not a few years from now, as would be the case if NBAF must be constructed from scratch elsewhere.