By ANDY MARSO

An official from Kansas State University outlined for legislators Thursday how a $1 billion federal facility to study animal disease also will work to preserve human health.

Ron Trewyn, K-State’s liaison to the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, or NBAF, said the facility under construction in Manhattan also will focus on zoonotic diseases that can spread from animals to humans if left unchecked. “So it has an animal health perspective and a public health perspective,” Trewyn told members of the House Commerce, Labor and Economic Development Committee.

Trewyn provided several examples of zoonotic diseases that NBAF researchers will study: Rift Valley fever, Japanese encephalitis, Nipah virus and Hendra virus. Rift Valley fever and Japanese encephalitis are spread by mosquitoes. Nipah virus and Hendra virus can spread to humans who consume produce contaminated by fruit bats.

Trewyn said when construction is finished, NBAF will allow domestic research on zoonotic diseases that have no known treatment — research that requires airtight containment and full biohazard suits. “There’s no facility in the United States that can do that kind of work,” he said.

That includes the 60-year-old Plum Island Animal Disease Center of New York that NBAF will replace. Trewyn said the closest facility capable of supporting that level of research is in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in Canada. Rift Valley fever has spread from East Africa to the Middle East since it was first identified in 1931, and the World Health Organization has warned it could spread to other parts of Europe and Asia. Japanese encephalitis, which is fatal for about 25 percent of humans who contract it, has spread throughout Southeast Asia.

There is no treatment for it. Nipah virus has been found in India and Bangladesh. Hendra virus, first identified in Australia, also is spreading to Southeast Asia.

Though the United States has not seen the diseases, Trewyn said it could be something the nation has to face in the future. He said U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan uncovered plots by terrorist groups to bring them overseas. “Many of these diseases will get here just due to the movement of people and goods,” Trewyn said.

“Others could be brought here intentionally.” NBAF is scheduled to open in 2022.

Andy Marso is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach him on Twitter @andymarso