United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases
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United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases | |
---|---|
Active | 1969–present |
Country | United States of America |
Branch | United States Army |
Type | Medical R&D Command |
Role | Medical research and development |
Part of | United States biological defense program |
Garrison/HQ | Fort Detrick, Maryland, U.S. |
Motto(s) | "Biodefense Solutions to Protect Our Nation" |
Commanders | |
Current commander | Colonel Aaron C. Pitney |
The United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID; /juːˈsæmrɪd/) is the U.S Army's main institution and facility for defensive research into countermeasures against biological warfare. It is located on Fort Detrick, Maryland, near Washington, D.C., and is a subordinate lab of the United States Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC), headquartered on the same installation.
USAMRIID is the only
USAMRIID employs both military and civilian
USAMRIID was the first bio-facility of its type to research the
Mission
USAMRIID's 1983 mission statement mandated that the Institute:
Develops strategies, products, information, procedures and training for medical defense against biological warfare agents and naturally occurring infectious agents of military importance that require special containment.
USAMRIID's current mission statement is:
To protect the Warfighter from biological threats and to be prepared to investigate disease outbreaks or threats to public health.
National and international legal status
By
History
Beginnings
USAMRIID traces its institutional lineage to the early 1950s, when Lt. Col.
In 1961, Col. Dan Crozier assumed command of the AMU. Modern principles of biosafety and biocontainment were pioneered at Fort Detrick throughout the 1960s by a number of scientists led by Arnold G. Wedum. Crozier oversaw the planning and construction of the present USAMRIID laboratory and office building (Building 1425) and its advanced biocontainment suites, which is formally known as "The Crozier Building". Ground breaking came in 1967 (personnel moved in during 1971 and 1972). In 1969, the BWL were formally disestablished and the Institute underwent a formal name change from the AMU to the "U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases". The institute's mission did not really change and it received additional funding and personnel authorizations to hire biomedical and laboratory scientists who were losing their jobs as a result of the termination of the United States' offensive BW studies.
1970s
By the late 1970s, in addition to the work on Coxiella burnetii and other
1980s
The 1980s saw the establishment of a new program to improve the existing anthrax vaccine, and to develop new information on the pathophysiology of weaponized anthrax disease. This came in response to the
The early 1980s also saw the development at USAMRIID of new diagnostic methods for several pathogenic organisms such as
In 1985, General Maxwell R. Thurman, then Army Deputy Chief of Staff, reviewed the threat posed to U.S. servicemembers by biological weapons. Thurman was particularly concerned about the application of genetic engineering technology to alter conventional microorganisms and his review resulted in a five-year plan of expansion for research into medical defensive measures at USAMRIID. The 1985 in-house budget of 34 M USD was to expand to 45 M the next year and was eventually scheduled to reach 93.2 M by 1989. (The need for a physical detection system to identify an aerosol of infectious agent became apparent at this time. The lack of such a reliable system still represents one of the major technical difficulties in the field.) Within two years, however, it became apparent that this program of expansion would not materialize. A new proposed toxin laboratory was never built. The Army had experienced several budget cuts and these impacted the funding of the institute.
By 1988, USAMRIID began to come under close scrutiny by several Congressional committees. The Senate
While investigating an outbreak of
.1990s
During the period of
2000s
In late 2001, USAMRIID became the
An inspection by USAMRMC, conducted seven months after the Amerithrax incidents, found that Suite B-3 in Building 1425 at the Institute not only was contaminated with anthrax in three locations but the bacteria had escaped from secure areas in the building to those that were unprotected. The report stated that, "safety procedures at the facility and in individual laboratories were lax and inadequately documented; that safety supervision sometimes was carried out by junior personnel with inadequate training or survey instruments; and that exposures of dangerous bacteria at the lab, including anthrax, had not been adequately reported."[4]
In August 2008, a USAMRIID scientist, Dr.
2010s
Safety policies changed at USAMRIID following an incident in March 2010. A young microbiologist became trapped in the -30 freezer portion of 'Little Alaska.' Due to the corroded nature of the freezer door, the woman was trapped in the life-threatening conditions for over 40 minutes. She was eventually recovered and the incident was labelled as a near miss. USAMRIID instituted a mandatory '2 man freezer policy' and worked to keep both the quality of the door and the security in that surrounding area up to a higher standard.[8]
Groundbreaking occurred in August 2009 for a new, state-of-the-art, 835,000 square feet (78,000 m2) facility at Ft Detrick for USAMRIID. The building, being constructed by Manhattan Torcon Joint Venture under the supervision of the US Army Corps of Engineers, is projected for completion and partial occupation by 2015 or '16 and full occupation by 2017. This delay to the project delivery is in part due to a fire within the BSL4 laboratory area[9]
In August 2019, all research at USAMRIID was indefinitely put on hold after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cited the organization for failing to meet biosafety standards.[10][11][12] In November 2019, limited research was resumed after infrastructure, training, compliance and biosafety standards had been improved.[13]
List of USAMRIID commanders
COL Dan Crozier, MD | 1969 | 1973 |
Brig. Gen. Kenneth R. Dirks | 1973 | |
COL Joseph F. Metzger | 1973 | 1977 |
COL Richard F. Barquist, MD | 1977 | 1983 |
COL David L. Huxsoll, DVM, PhD | 1983 | 1990 |
COL Charles L. Bailey, PhD | 1990 | |
COL Ronald G. Williams | 1990 | 1992 |
COL Ernest T. Takafuji, MD, MPH | 1992 | 1995 |
COL David R. Franz, DVM | 1995 | 1998 |
COL Gerald W. Parker, DVM, PhD, MS | 1998 | 2000 |
COL Edward M. Eitzen Jr, MD, MPH | 2000 | 2002 |
COL Erik A. Henchal, PhD | 2002 | 2005 |
COL George W. Korch, PhD | 2005 | 2008 |
COL John P. Skvorak, DVM, PhD | 2008 | 2011 |
COL Bernard L. DeKoning, MD, FAAFP | 2011 | 2013 |
COL Erin P. Edgar, MD | 2013 | 2015 |
COL Thomas S. Bundt, MA, MHA, MBA, PhD | 2015 | 2017 |
COL Gary A. Wheeler | 2017 | 2019 |
COL E. Darrin Cox | 2019 | 2021 |
COL Constance L. Jenkins | 2021 | 2023 |
COL Aaron C. Pitney | 2023 | present |
Notable USAMRIID scientists
- C. J. Peters, physician and virologist made famous by the best-seller The Hot Zone
- Ayaad Assaad, microbiologist and toxicologist
- Lisa Hensley, microbiologist; Ebola and smallpox expert
- UNSCOMinspector
- Richard O. Spertzel, microbiologist, veterinarian and UNSCOM inspector
- Amerithraxsuspect
- Amerithraxculprit
- Philip M. Zack, microbiologist
- Peter Jahrling, a virologist who studied smallpox and ebola
Periodic USAMRIID training courses
- Medical Management of Biological Casualties (MMBC)
- Field Management of Biological Casualties (FCBC)
- Hospital Management-Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosive(HM-CBRNE)
- Field Identification of Biological Warfare Threat Agents (FIBWA)
- Biologic Agent Identification and Counter Terrorism Training (BAIT)
See also
- United States biological defense program
- United States Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense
- Walter Reed Army Institute of Research
- National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center
- Positive pressure personnel suit
- Biological warfare in popular culture
Notes and references
- ^ "USAMRIID". www.usamriid.army.mil. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
- ^ "America Steps-Up Biodefenses - OhmyNews International". english.ohmynews.com. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
- ^ Preston, Richard (2002), The Demon in the Freezer, New York: Random House.
- Washington Times, August 8, 2008, p. 1.
- ^ Hernandez, Nelson, and Philip Rucker, "Anthrax Case Raises Doubt On Security", August 8, 2008, p. 1.
- ^ Associated Press, "Army Team To Probe Security At Detrick", August 9, 2008.
- ^ Meyer, Josh, "Anthrax Case Prompts Congressional Investigation Of Biodefense Labs", Los Angeles Times, August 9, 2008.
- The Frederick News-Post, July 15, 2010.
- ^ Staff, Sylvia Carignan News-Post (17 March 2014). "Fort Detrick's $10 million fire". Retrieved 21 August 2018.
- ^ "Fort Detrick lab shut down after failed safety inspection; all research halted indefinitely". 2 August 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ^ "Maryland Senator Pens Letter to Army over Fort Detrick Lab Shutdown". Retrieved 26 April 2020.
- ^ "Army lab fights coronavirus and its own demons". 26 March 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
- ^ "CDC Approves Partial Resumption of USAMRIID Select Agent Research". 23 November 2019. Retrieved 20 March 2020.