The University of Wisconsin-Madison hopes to land a new high-security federal lab where scientists would help lead the nation’s research on deadly animal diseases. The lab would be operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Scientists at the new lab would study foreign animal diseases that could harm agriculture if spread in the United States. They would also study bird flu, anthrax, SARS and other pathogens that can spread from animals to people and that have become bioterrorism concerns.