GAO Questions DHS on Proposed Location for Infectious Pathogen Research Lab

A Government Accountability Office draft report obtained by the Washington Post suggests that the Department of Homeland Security underestimated the chance of a release of major contamination from a research lab for highly infectious pathogens in tornado-prone Manhattan, Kansas. To date, that sort of research has been confined to remote islands.

Despite efforts to delay or postpone a hearing on the matter by DHS, the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s oversight and investigations subcommittee plans to hold a hearing Thursday on the risk analysis, according to two sources cited by the Post. Had the GAO not reported such findings, the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF), was expected to win construction funding.

Critics site active lobbying by state officials for the lab’s location in Kansas.

Washington Post (via @jeffharrison)