May 2, 2017
CEEZAD to host BSL4 workshop, Conference on Emerging Zoonoses
The Center of Excellence For Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases will host two upcoming events: a BSL4 Gap Analysis Workshop May 6 and May 7 at the K-State Alumni Center and eighth International Conference on Emerging Zoonoses May 7-10 in Manhattan.
The BSL4 Gap Analysis Workshop will include presentations on numerous aspects of BSL4 lab work, with a focus on pathogens of interest, diagnostics, vaccines, biosurveillance, emergency response and workforce development.
BSL4 labs are laboratories designated for work on high-consequence diseases affecting humans and animals for which there is no cure. The National Bio and Agro-defense Facility, or NBAF, a laboratory operated by the Department of Homeland Security that will contain BSL4 space, is presently under construction at Kansas State University.
The International Conference on Emerging Zoonoses will include a variety of presentations on epidemiology, antimicrobial resistance, virology, microbial immunology, hemorrhagic fever viruses, pathology and vaccinology, along with roundtable discussions. Attendees also will be able to sign up for tours of Fort Riley, epicenter of the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic, and NBAF.
Conference co-chairs are Juergen Richt, the Regents Distinguished Professor at K-State and CEEZAD director, and Heinz Feldmann, chief of the Laboratory of Virology at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories.