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To address the need for large animal research facilities, we propose to build a state-of-the-art ABSL-2 large animal research facility that will allow us to perform USDA-funded research projects and expand our large animal research program.
NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Montanas livestock industry represents over $1.2 billion in cash receipts annually and is one to the largest industries in the state. One of the primary concerns of the Montana livestock industry is in the control of exposure and susceptibility to infectious diseases. This is essential because infectious diseases cause considerable loss for livestock producers by reducing production of animal units and by contributing to reduced sales due to food safety concerns. In order to carry out large animal infectious disease research, however, it is essential that we have adequate large animal biocontainment facilities. The purpose of this project is to build a state-of-the-art large animal research facility that will allow the growth and expansion of education and research programs that better meet current and future needs of agriculture and the livestock industry, especially in the area of animal infectious diseases.
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APPROACH: The proposed facility will be approximately 7,400 sq. ft. and will have two animal quarantine rooms capable of holding approximately 4-5 calves each, four procedure rooms that hold 4 calves each, and two surgical suites, all under stringent climate control and ventilation for safety (see floor plan below). Thus, the facility will have the capacity to handle over 24 calves at any one time. The facility will have shower-in/shower-out capability for safety of the investigators, and the flow of traffic and air in the facility is designed to avoid infection of investigators and animal caretakers. Containment will also be designed to prevent cross-contamination of pathogens between rooms, yet provide easy movement of large animals in and out of the rooms.
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PROGRESS: 2007/01 TO 2007/12
Design of the large animals ABSL-2 facility was completed in the spring of 2007, and construction began on May 14, 2007. Construction of the facility is on track for completion in May of 2008.
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IMPACT: 2007/01 TO 2007/12
The new state-of-the-art large animal research facility will allow the growth and expansion of education and research programs that better meet current and future needs of agriculture and the livestock industry, especially in the area of animal infectious diseases. The availability of the new ABSL-2 research facility will significantly enhance and expand our research into infectious diseases of livestock. Currently, we are severely limited in the scope of our large animal infectious disease research because of the lack of adequate facilities. It is anticipated that a number of new projects will also be developed to take advantage of the new facility, and these will be funded by seed grants from the Animal Health program. The overall goal of our large animal research program is to better understand mechanisms of infection, determine how the animal defends against infection, and ultimately show how we can enhance resistance to infection to control the associated damage and prevent further spread of the infectious organism.