It’s open house at a new federal laboratory where scientists will probe some of the most deadly diseases known to humans and animals.
And it is obvious the intended public relations message for reporters is the safety of the $142 million complex.
As tour guide Paul Langevin leads reporters through a maze of labs, showers and corridors, he recites a lengthy list of safety features.
He even lets slip a stomach-turning wager he has made. Langevin has $100 riding on whether he’ll eat part of the first batch of organic waste coming through the pipes of the centre.
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That’s how confident he is that all air and wastes leaving the labs are completely sterilized, absolutely safe.
“This lab has set a new benchmark for labs in the world,” said Langevin.
The Agriculture Canada engineer has worked on plans for the complex for 15 years.
Replacing outdated labs in parts of research centres in Ottawa, the Winnipeg centre is the first lab ever designed to handle both human and animal disease research.
Staff from the National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease, part of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, will begin moving in this week. Scientists from Health Canada’s microbiology bureau will follow in the spring.
After scores more tests to meet Canadian laws and international guidelines, the complex will be fully running by the end of next year.
It includes Canada’s first Level 4 labs, equipped to deal with the most serious organisms such as the ebola virus.
The executive director of the food inspection agency’s part of the complex said work done there will help preserve Canada’s reputation of having livestock free from deadly diseases.
Norm Willis said preserving the good health status is vital to keeping the international markets relied upon by Canadian livestock producers.
For example, the last Canadian outbreak of hoof-and-mouth disease in cattle, which occurred in the early 1950s, caused about $800 million in losses.
A briefing paper for reporters states a similar outbreak today could lead to trade embargoes against Canadian livestock. An embargo lasting 1.5 years would cost farmers more than $2.5 billion.
“This is a unique Canadian asset that is here to serve Canadian agriculture,” said Willis.
Scientists at the centre will identify diseases that could threaten Canadian livestock, respond to foreign disease outbreaks, and advise the government on policies to keep diseases out of Canada.
They will also train veterinarians to recognize serious diseases by bringing in disease-free livestock from special herds, introducing a disease and showing its various stages.
“Without labs like this, there’s no defence for viruses that know no bounds,” said Langevin.
