Jutila Research Laboratory (BSL-3)

The BSL-3 facility consists of about 2400 sq. ft. of BSL-3 containment that includes 4 laboratory rooms, an animal containment room designed for small laboratory animals, an animal procedure room and an additional 1200 sq. ft. of support space.  The facility is state-of-the-art and built to the specifications of the Center for Disease Control (CDC).  All of the air handling, heating and cooling equipment in the building is redundant and the full electrical load of the building is backed up by an automatically operated generator. The building has an extensive security system and access to the building is limited to a few approved individuals who undergo extensive training and participate in a comprehensive occupational health and surveillance program.  The investigators working in the facility are approved to work with the select agents Coxiella burnetii (causative agent of Q fever), Brucella abortus, and Brucella melitensis (both causative agents for brucellosis).  Future work is also planned with Yersinia pestis (causative agent of plague).  All of these agents are zoonotic in that they can be transmitted from livestock to humans and are concerns for biodefense.  Although the work in the BSL-3 utilizes mice as an experimental animal, the intent is that results of our experiments can eventually be translated to therapeutic and prophylactic treatments for infectious diseases of humans and/or livestock.

 Johnson Family Livestock Facility (ABSL-2)

The state-of-the-art ABSL-2 large animal research facility is approximately 7,400 sq. ft. and has 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. The facility has the capacity to handle over 24 calves at any one time.  The facility has 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 is also designed to prevent cross-contamination of pathogens between rooms, yet provide easy movement of large animals in and out of the rooms.  The 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 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.