United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases KYLE MELLING

— Mission —  To provide leading edge medical capabilities to deter and defend against current and emerging biological threat agents — Vision —  To be the leader in the advancement of medical biological defense with world renowned experts dedicated to protecting our military forces and the nation — Core Competencies —  Development, testing and evaluation of medical countermeasures  Providing world-class expertise in medical biological defense  Rapid identification of biological agents  Training and educating the force  Maintaining biosafety, biosurety and biosecurity standards  Preparing for technological uncertainty

Background  Located in Fort Detrick, MD  Established Jan 27, 1969  Core mission is to protect the warfighter from biological threats, but also investigate disease outbreaks and threats to public health.  Most research is done in BSL-3 settings, but one of only 3 labs with BSL-4 clearance in US (fourth is planned)  Biological warfare development banned by Nixon 1969/1970

BSL - 4  Only four BioSafety Levels (1 – 4, with 4 being highest)  Positive-pressurize suits that need routine checks for leaks  Stringent entry and exit procedures such as numerous showers, a vacuum room, an ultraviolet light room, etc.  Used for highly infectious diseases as well as other dangerous and exotic hazards

Operation Whitecoat  A biodefense medical research program carried out by the United States Army between 1954 and 1973  More than 2,300 U.S. Army soldiers volunteered  Exposed to dangerous bacteria that were considered likely choices for a biological attack, or other harmful diseases (encephalitis, hep A, plague, etc)  Vaccines for bioweapons tested, along with other treatment drugs  Treated with antibiotics afterwards to cure infections

More Recently  Over 260,000 tests over next 8 months after 9/11 for “Amerithrax”  Few safety incidences caused heightened measures  Heavily involved in the training of first responders across the world  Offer unique courses ranging from 2 hrs to a week for different biological terror conditions  Construction of adjacent building to USAMRIID to expand

Resources  cold-war-to-present-day/ cold-war-to-present-day/   Army-Medical-Research-Institute-of-Infectious-Diseases.html Army-Medical-Research-Institute-of-Infectious-Diseases.html