The National Bio and Agro Defense Facility continues to transition services from Plum Island to its facility here in Manhattan.
Part of that transition includes developing a new inventory system for bio-materials. Dr. Chuck Dodd is the Transition Program Manager at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center.
Dr. Dodd is also overseeing the massive undertaking of scanning and processing of more than 66 years of hard copy documents within Plum Island’s bio-containment areas. Many of these documents can not be decontaminated.
Once the digitization process is finished, the hard copy documents will be destroyed.
Dodd likens the entire process to that of organizing one’s house and going through closets.
Dodd began with USDA last fall following a career as a veterinarian primarily with the U.S. Army. He left full time Army service in 2016 and worked for a time with his wife at the Jordan University of Science and Technology in the Middle East. He spoke about that experience this week on KMAN’s In Focus and how it opened his eyes to foreign animal diseases.
The move from Plum Island to NBAF will be done in phases over a significant amount of time as the diagnostic and research capabilities are stood up at the site.
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