May 27, 2021
As soon as COVID-19 appeared in Wuhan, China, it was a high possibility that the virus originated in one of the two high-security labs studying bat viruses in that city the National Bio-Safety Laboratory and the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The Wuhan Institute of Virology was of particular concern. U.S. State Department cables in 2018 warned of extreme sloppiness at the lab. Although the lab’s research on bat coronaviruses was partially funded by the U.S. National Institute of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (of which Anthony Fauci is the director), the warnings went unaddressed.
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Jerry Saliki is the director of the Oklahoma Animal Disease Diagnostic Center in Stillwater, OK. His team stepped up to expand testing capacity at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, animal disease labs across the country stepped up to expand testing capacity, and they could play a role in preventing the next pandemic.
Spillover events (animal diseases that jump to humans) happen often, according to Jonna Mazet, a professor of epidemiology and disease ecology at the University of California - Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.
Most novel diseases and emerging infections that jump from one species to another don’t cause big problems, she says. In other cases, it can be bad.
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ARS Scientists and Staff Deployed to Administer COVID-19 Vaccines
In January 2021, President Biden released the National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness. The plan calls on the federal government to contribute resources, facilities, personnel, and expertise to contain the pandemic. As part of this effort, HHS recently issued an amendment to the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act, designating eligible Federal government employees to administer COVID-19 vaccines. USDA has deployed more 450 volunteers to support the vaccination effort, including over 40 ARS scientists and support staff on lengthy deployments across the country.
ARS employees shared their stories below on why they volunteered and the impact this effort is having on local communities struggling to administer the COVID vaccines:
United States Senator Jerry Moran toured the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility on Friday.
Moran says the purpose for his visit was to discuss NBAF workforce attraction and retention, the continued relationship between the Department of Homeland Security and United States Department of Agriculture and the facility’s safety and capabilities.
“Both for the safety of the people in the country, safety from concerns I have with other countries being interested in learning our science, particularly China, and particularly with what we’ve seen with a human pandemic – the safety of our livestock industry and the food supply chain in the United States from either an intentional or unintentional attack,” Moran said.