United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases
Encyclopedia
The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID, pronounced U-sam-rid) 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
and is a subordinate lab of the U. S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command
(USAMRMC), headquartered on the same installation.
USAMRIID is the only U.S. Department of Defense laboratory
equipped to study highly hazardous viruses at Biosafety Level 4.
USAMRIID employs both military and civilian scientist
s as well as highly specialized support personnel. In the 1950s and '60s, it pioneered unique, state-of-the-art biocontainment
facilities which it continues to maintain and upgrade. Investigators at its facilities frequently collaborate with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
, the World Health Organization
, and major biomedical and academic centers worldwide.
USAMRIID was the first bio-facility of its type to research the Ames strain
of anthrax, determined through genetic analysis
to be the bacterium used in the 2001 anthrax attacks
.
's 1969 and 1970 Executive Orders renouncing the use of biological and toxin weapons, and the U.N. Biological Weapons Convention
of 1972.
was appointed as medical liaison officer to the U.S. Army Biological Warfare Laboratories (BWL) at Camp (later Fort) Detrick to oversee biomedical defensive problems. Soon thereafter, a joint agreement was signed and studies on medical defense against biological weapons were conducted cooperatively by the U.S. Army Chemical Corps and the Army Medical Department. These early days saw the beginnings of the medical volunteer program known as “Project Whitecoat” (1954–1973). USAMRIID’s precursor — the Army Medical Unit (AMU) — began operations in 1956 under the command of Col. William D. Tigertt. (One of the AMU’s first responsibilities was to oversee all aspects of Project CD-22, the exposure of volunteers to aerosols containing a highly pathogenic strain of Coxiella burnetii
, the causal agent of Q fever
.)
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.
, Korean and Bolivian hemorrhagic fever
s, Lassa fever
and other exotic diseases that could pose potential BW threats. In 1978, the Institute assisted with humanitarian efforts in Egypt when a severe outbreak of Rift Valley fever
(RVF) occurred there for the first time. The epidemic caused thousands of human cases and the deaths of large numbers of livestock. Diagnostics, along with much of the Institute's stock of RVF vaccine, were sent to help control the outbreak. In 1979, the Institute acquired both fixed and transportable BSL-4 containment plastic human isolators for the hospital care and safe transport of patients suffering from highly contagious and potentially lethal exotic infections. At that time a formal agreement was signed with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that USAMRIID would house and treat highly contagious infections in laboratory personnel should any occur.
of 1979. Professional medical opinion differed at this period as to exactly what constituted a potential BW agent. A case in point was the establishment in 1980 of a new program focusing on Legionnaire’s disease at the urging of some medical authorities. Almost a year later, a panel of experts decided that this organism did not have potential as a BW agent and the program was discontinued. Of greater longevity were the new research programs initiated at this time to study the trichothecene
fungal toxins, marine toxins and other small molecular weight toxins of microbial origin.
The early 1980s also saw the development at USAMRIID of new diagnostic methods for several pathogenic organisms such as ELISA
technology and the extensive use of monoclonal antibodies
. The same year saw introduction of a new course, "Medical Defense Against Biological Agents", designed to familiarize military physicians, nurses and other medical personnel with the special problems potentially posed by medical management BW cases. This course, with some changes in format, continued into the 21st century as the “Medical Management of Chemical and Biological Casualties Course” (MCBC), still conducted jointly by USAMRIID and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense (USAMRICD).
In 1985, the General Maxwell Thurmond, then Army Deputy Chief of Staff, reviewed the threat posed to U.S. servicemembers by biological weapons. Thurmond 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. 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 Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, chaired by Senator Carl Levin
, issued a report quite critical in the DoD's management of biological safety issues in the CBW programs. Senator John Glenn
, Chairman, Committee on Governmental Affairs asked the Government Accounting Office (GAO) to investigate the validity of DoD's Biological Defense Research Program. The GAO issued a critical report concluding that the Army spent funds on R&D efforts that did not address validated BW threats and may have duplicated the research efforts of the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health
.
While investigating an outbreak of simian hemorrhagic fever
(SHF) in 1989, a USAMRIID electron microscopist
discovered filoviruses similar in appearance to Ebola
in tissue samples taken from a crab-eating macaque
imported from the Philippines
to the Hazleton Laboratories
in Reston, Virginia
. USAMRIID's role in this "Ebola Reston
outbreak
" became the focus of Richard Preston
's bestselling 1994 book
The Hot Zone
.
(UNSCOM) Inspection Team that evaluated the BW capabilities in Iraq during the 1990s.
, DOJ
, CIA and the White House
are detailed in Richard Preston
's 2002 book The Demon in the Freezer
.
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."
In August 2008, a USAMRIID scientist, Dr. Bruce Ivins, was identified as the lone Amerithrax culprit by the FBI. Ivins had allegedly expressed homicidal thoughts and exhibited mental instability before and after the attacks occurred. He had maintained his security clearance at the Institute, and retained access to dangerous substances, until mid-July 2008, at the end of which month he committed suicide. Also in August 2008, Secretary of the Army Pete Geren
ordered the creation of a team of medical and military experts to review security measures at the Institute. The team is headed by a two-star general
, and will include representatives from USAMRMC, the Army's Surgeon General, and Army operations. U.S. Representatives
John D. Dingell and Bart Stupak
have stated that they will lead investigations into security at the Institute as part of a review of all the nation's biodefense labs.
Groundbreaking occurred in August 2009 for a new, state-of-the-art, 835000 square feet (77,574 m²) facility at Ft Detrick for USAMRIID. The building, being constructed by Manhattan Torcon Joint Venture, is projected for completion/occupation by 2015.
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
’s main institution and facility for defensive research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
into countermeasures against biological warfare
Biological warfare
Biological warfare is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi with intent to kill or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war...
. It is located on Fort Detrick
Fort Detrick
Fort Detrick is a U.S. Army Medical Command installation located in Frederick, Maryland, USA. Historically, Fort Detrick was the center for the United States' biological weapons program ....
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
and is a subordinate lab of the U. S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command
United States Army Medical Research and Materiel Command
The United States Army Medical Research and Materiel Command is the United States Army's medical materiel developer, with responsibility for medical research, development, and acquisition and medical logistics management. The USAMRMC's expertise in these critical areas helps establish and maintain...
(USAMRMC), headquartered on the same installation.
USAMRIID is the only U.S. Department of Defense laboratory
Laboratory
A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
equipped to study highly hazardous viruses at Biosafety Level 4.
USAMRIID employs both military and civilian scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
s as well as highly specialized support personnel. In the 1950s and '60s, it pioneered unique, state-of-the-art biocontainment
Biocontainment
The concept of biocontainment, also called laboratory biosafety, pertains to microbiology laboratories in which the physical containment of highly pathogenic organisms or agents is required, usually by isolation in environmentally and biologically secure cabinets or rooms, to prevent accidental...
facilities which it continues to maintain and upgrade. Investigators at its facilities frequently collaborate with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services headquartered in Druid Hills, unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, in Greater Atlanta...
, the World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
, and major biomedical and academic centers worldwide.
USAMRIID was the first bio-facility of its type to research the Ames strain
Ames strain
The Ames strain is one of 89 known strains of the anthrax bacterium . It was isolated from a diseased 14-month old Beefmaster heifer that died in Sarita, Texas in 1981. The strain was isolated at the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory and a sample was sent to the United States Army...
of anthrax, determined through genetic analysis
Genetic analysis
Genetic analysis can be used generally to describe methods both used in and resulting from the sciences of genetics and molecular biology, or to applications resulting from this research....
to be the bacterium used in the 2001 anthrax attacks
2001 anthrax attacks
The 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States, also known as Amerithrax from its Federal Bureau of Investigation case name, occurred over the course of several weeks beginning on Tuesday, September 18, 2001, one week after the September 11 attacks. Letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to...
.
Mission
USAMRIID’s 1983 Mission Statement mandates that the Institute:National and international legal status
By U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) directive, as well as additional U.S. Army guidance, USAMRIID performs its “biological agent medical defense” research in support of the needs of the three military services. This mission, and all work done at USAMRIID, must remain within the spirit and letter of both President Richard NixonRichard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
's 1969 and 1970 Executive Orders renouncing the use of biological and toxin weapons, and the U.N. Biological Weapons Convention
Biological Weapons Convention
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction was the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning the...
of 1972.
Beginnings
USAMRIID traces its institutional lineage to the early 1950s, when Lt. Col. Abram S. BenensonAbram Salmon Benenson
Abram Salmon Benenson, MD was an authority in public health, preventive medicine, military medicine, and "shoe-leather" epidemiology. He was best known as the editor-in-chief for the Control of Communicable Diseases Manual of the American Public Health Association...
was appointed as medical liaison officer to the U.S. Army Biological Warfare Laboratories (BWL) at Camp (later Fort) Detrick to oversee biomedical defensive problems. Soon thereafter, a joint agreement was signed and studies on medical defense against biological weapons were conducted cooperatively by the U.S. Army Chemical Corps and the Army Medical Department. These early days saw the beginnings of the medical volunteer program known as “Project Whitecoat” (1954–1973). USAMRIID’s precursor — the Army Medical Unit (AMU) — began operations in 1956 under the command of Col. William D. Tigertt. (One of the AMU’s first responsibilities was to oversee all aspects of Project CD-22, the exposure of volunteers to aerosols containing a highly pathogenic strain of Coxiella burnetii
Coxiella burnetii
Coxiella burnetii is an obligate intracellular bacterial pathogen, and is the causative agent of Q fever. The genus Coxiella is morphologically similar to Rickettsia, but with a variety of genetic and physiological differences. C...
, the causal agent of Q fever
Q fever
Q fever is a disease caused by infection with Coxiella burnetii, a bacterium that affects humans and other animals. This organism is uncommon but may be found in cattle, sheep, goats and other domestic mammals, including cats and dogs...
.)
In 1961, Col. Dan Crozier assumed command of the AMU. Modern principles of biosafety
Biosafety
Biosafety: prevention of large-scale loss of biological integrity, focusing both on ecology and human health .Biosafety is related to several fields:*In ecology ,...
and biocontainment
Biocontainment
The concept of biocontainment, also called laboratory biosafety, pertains to microbiology laboratories in which the physical containment of highly pathogenic organisms or agents is required, usually by isolation in environmentally and biologically secure cabinets or rooms, to prevent accidental...
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
Biocontainment
The concept of biocontainment, also called laboratory biosafety, pertains to microbiology laboratories in which the physical containment of highly pathogenic organisms or agents is required, usually by isolation in environmentally and biologically secure cabinets or rooms, to prevent accidental...
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 rickettsiae, research priorities had expanded to include the development of vaccines and therapeutics against ArgentineArgentine hemorrhagic fever
Argentine hemorrhagic fever or O'Higgins disease, also known in Argentina as mal de los rastrojos, stubble disease, is a hemorrhagic fever and zoonotic infectious disease occurring in Argentina. It is caused by the Junín virus...
, Korean and Bolivian hemorrhagic fever
Bolivian hemorrhagic fever
Bolivian hemorrhagic fever , also known as black typhus or Ordog Fever, is a hemorrhagic fever and zoonotic infectious disease originating in Bolivia after infection by Machupo virus....
s, Lassa fever
Lassa fever
Lassa fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic fever caused by the Lassa virus and first described in 1969 in the town of Lassa, in Borno State, Nigeria, in the Yedseram river valley at the south end of Lake Chad. Clinical cases of the disease had been known for over a decade but had not been connected...
and other exotic diseases that could pose potential BW threats. In 1978, the Institute assisted with humanitarian efforts in Egypt when a severe outbreak of Rift Valley fever
Rift Valley fever
Rift Valley Fever is a viral zoonosis causing fever. It is spread by the bite of infected mosquitoes, typically the Aedes or Culex genera. The disease is caused by the RVF virus, a member of the genus Phlebovirus...
(RVF) occurred there for the first time. The epidemic caused thousands of human cases and the deaths of large numbers of livestock. Diagnostics, along with much of the Institute's stock of RVF vaccine, were sent to help control the outbreak. In 1979, the Institute acquired both fixed and transportable BSL-4 containment plastic human isolators for the hospital care and safe transport of patients suffering from highly contagious and potentially lethal exotic infections. At that time a formal agreement was signed with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that USAMRIID would house and treat highly contagious infections in laboratory personnel should any occur.
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 Sverdlovsk anthrax leakSverdlovsk anthrax leak
The Sverdlovsk anthrax leak is an incident when spores of anthrax were accidentally released from a military facility in the city of Sverdlovsk 1450 km east of Moscow on April 2, 1979. This accident is sometimes called "biological Chernobyl"...
of 1979. Professional medical opinion differed at this period as to exactly what constituted a potential BW agent. A case in point was the establishment in 1980 of a new program focusing on Legionnaire’s disease at the urging of some medical authorities. Almost a year later, a panel of experts decided that this organism did not have potential as a BW agent and the program was discontinued. Of greater longevity were the new research programs initiated at this time to study the trichothecene
Trichothecene
Trichothecenes are a very large family of chemically related mycotoxins produced by various species of Fusarium, Myrothecium, Trichoderma, Trichothecium, Cephalosporium, Verticimonosporium, and Stachybotrys...
fungal toxins, marine toxins and other small molecular weight toxins of microbial origin.
The early 1980s also saw the development at USAMRIID of new diagnostic methods for several pathogenic organisms such as ELISA
ELISA
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay , is a popular format of a "wet-lab" type analytic biochemistry assay that uses one sub-type of heterogeneous, solid-phase enzyme immunoassay to detect the presence of a substance in a liquid sample."Wet lab" analytic biochemistry assays involves detection of an...
technology and the extensive use of monoclonal antibodies
Monoclonal antibodies
Monoclonal antibodies are monospecific antibodies that are the same because they are made by identical immune cells that are all clones of a unique parent cell....
. The same year saw introduction of a new course, "Medical Defense Against Biological Agents", designed to familiarize military physicians, nurses and other medical personnel with the special problems potentially posed by medical management BW cases. This course, with some changes in format, continued into the 21st century as the “Medical Management of Chemical and Biological Casualties Course” (MCBC), still conducted jointly by USAMRIID and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense (USAMRICD).
In 1985, the General Maxwell Thurmond, then Army Deputy Chief of Staff, reviewed the threat posed to U.S. servicemembers by biological weapons. Thurmond 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. 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 Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, chaired by Senator Carl Levin
Carl Levin
Carl Milton Levin is a Jewish-American United States Senator from Michigan, serving since 1979. He is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services. He is a member of the Democratic Party....
, issued a report quite critical in the DoD's management of biological safety issues in the CBW programs. Senator John Glenn
John Glenn
John Herschel Glenn, Jr. is a former United States Marine Corps pilot, astronaut, and United States senator who was the first American to orbit the Earth and the third American in space. Glenn was a Marine Corps fighter pilot before joining NASA's Mercury program as a member of NASA's original...
, Chairman, Committee on Governmental Affairs asked the Government Accounting Office (GAO) to investigate the validity of DoD's Biological Defense Research Program. The GAO issued a critical report concluding that the Army spent funds on R&D efforts that did not address validated BW threats and may have duplicated the research efforts of the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
.
While investigating an outbreak of simian hemorrhagic fever
Simian hemorrhagic fever virus
Simian hemorrhagic fever virus or simian haemorrhagic fever virus or SHFV is a highly pathogenic virus in monkeys. It is a positive-stranded RNA virus classified in the family Arteriviridae.- Hosts :...
(SHF) in 1989, a USAMRIID electron microscopist
Electron microscope
An electron microscope is a type of microscope that uses a beam of electrons to illuminate the specimen and produce a magnified image. Electron microscopes have a greater resolving power than a light-powered optical microscope, because electrons have wavelengths about 100,000 times shorter than...
discovered filoviruses similar in appearance to Ebola
Ebola
Ebola virus disease is the name for the human disease which may be caused by any of the four known ebolaviruses. These four viruses are: Bundibugyo virus , Ebola virus , Sudan virus , and Taï Forest virus...
in tissue samples taken from a crab-eating macaque
Crab-eating Macaque
The Crab-eating macaque is a cercopithecine primate native to Southeast Asia. It is also called the "long-tailed macaque", and is referred to as the "cynomolgus monkey" in laboratories.-Etymology:...
imported from the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
to the Hazleton Laboratories
Covance
Covance, Inc. , formerly Corning Incorporated, with headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey, USA, is a contract research organization , providing drug development and animal testing services...
in Reston, Virginia
Reston, Virginia
Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, within the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The population was 58,404, at the 2010 Census and 56,407 at the 2000 census...
. USAMRIID's role in this "Ebola Reston
Ebola Reston
- Introduction and Use of Term :The species Reston ebolavirus is a virological taxon included in the genus Ebolavirus, family Filoviridae, order Mononegavirales. The species has a single virus member, Reston virus . The members of the species are called Reston ebolaviruses...
outbreak
Outbreak
Outbreak is a term used in epidemiology to describe an occurrence of disease greater than would otherwise be expected at a particular time and place. It may affect a small and localized group or impact upon thousands of people across an entire continent. Two linked cases of a rare infectious...
" became the focus of Richard Preston
Richard Preston
Richard Preston, born August 5, 1954 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., is a New Yorker writer and bestselling author perhaps best-known for his books about infectious disease epidemics and bioterrorism, although he has written other non-fiction works...
's bestselling 1994 book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
The Hot Zone
The Hot Zone
The Hot Zone is a best-selling 1994 non-fiction bio-thriller by Richard Preston about the origins and incidents involving viral hemorrhagic fevers, particularly ebolaviruses and marburgviruses...
.
1990s
During the period of Desert Shield and Desert Storm (1990–91) USAMRIID provided the DoD with expert advice and products (vaccines and drugs) to insure an effective medical response if a medical defense were required. USAMRIID scientists trained and equipped six special laboratory teams for rapid identification of potential BW agents, which fortunately never appeared. Following the conflict, USAMRIID physicians and engineers were key members of a United Nations Special CommissionUnited Nations Special Commission
United Nations Special Commission was an inspection regime created by the United Nations to ensure Iraq's compliance with policies concerning Iraqi production and use of weapons of mass destruction after the Gulf War...
(UNSCOM) Inspection Team that evaluated the BW capabilities in Iraq during the 1990s.
2000s
In late 2001, USAMRIID became the FBI’s reference lab for forensic evidence related to the bioterror incident known as "Amerithrax" in which anthrax-laden letters were sent through the US Postal Service, killing 5 people and sickening 17 others. The response by USAMRIID as it interacted with the FBI, HHSUnited States Department of Health and Human Services
The United States Department of Health and Human Services is a Cabinet department of the United States government with the goal of protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is "Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America"...
, DOJ
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
, CIA and the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
are detailed in Richard Preston
Richard Preston
Richard Preston, born August 5, 1954 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., is a New Yorker writer and bestselling author perhaps best-known for his books about infectious disease epidemics and bioterrorism, although he has written other non-fiction works...
's 2002 book The Demon in the Freezer
The Demon in the Freezer
The Demon in the Freezer is a 2002 non-fiction book on the biological weapon agents smallpox and anthrax and how the American government develops defensive measures against them. It was written by journalist Richard Preston, also author of the best-selling book The Hot Zone , about outbreaks of...
.
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."
In August 2008, a USAMRIID scientist, Dr. Bruce Ivins, was identified as the lone Amerithrax culprit by the FBI. Ivins had allegedly expressed homicidal thoughts and exhibited mental instability before and after the attacks occurred. He had maintained his security clearance at the Institute, and retained access to dangerous substances, until mid-July 2008, at the end of which month he committed suicide. Also in August 2008, Secretary of the Army Pete Geren
Pete Geren
Preston M. "Pete" Geren, III served as the 20th United States Secretary of the Army from July 16, 2007 to September 16, 2009...
ordered the creation of a team of medical and military experts to review security measures at the Institute. The team is headed by a two-star general
Major general (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...
, and will include representatives from USAMRMC, the Army's Surgeon General, and Army operations. U.S. Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
John D. Dingell and Bart Stupak
Bart Stupak
Bartholomew Thomas "Bart" Stupak is a lobbyist and American politician of the Democratic Party. He served as the U.S. Representative from from 1993 to 2011....
have stated that they will lead investigations into security at the Institute as part of a review of all the nation's biodefense labs.
Groundbreaking occurred in August 2009 for a new, state-of-the-art, 835000 square feet (77,574 m²) facility at Ft Detrick for USAMRIID. The building, being constructed by Manhattan Torcon Joint Venture, is projected for completion/occupation by 2015.
List of USAMRIID commanders
| Col. Dan Crozier, MD Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools... |
|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 Professional degrees of public health The Master of Public Health and the Doctor of Public Health are multi-disciplinary professional degrees awarded for studies in areas related to public health.... |
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 | Present |
Notable USAMRIID scientists
- C. J. Peters, physician and virologist made famous by the best-seller The Hot ZoneThe Hot ZoneThe Hot Zone is a best-selling 1994 non-fiction bio-thriller by Richard Preston about the origins and incidents involving viral hemorrhagic fevers, particularly ebolaviruses and marburgviruses...
- Ayaad Assaad, microbiologist and toxicologist
- William C. Patrick III, microbiologist, former bioweaponeer and UNSCOM inspector
- Richard O. Spertzel, microbiologist, veterinarian and UNSCOM inspector
- Steven HatfillSteven HatfillSteven Jay Hatfill is an American physician, virologist and bio-weapons expert who underwent what was considered by many to be a trial by media with great toll on his personal and professional life...
, physician, virologist and former Amerithrax suspect - Bruce IvinsBruce Edwards IvinsBruce Edwards Ivins was an American microbiologist, vaccinologist, senior biodefense researcher at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Fort Detrick, Maryland and the key suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks.On Tuesday, July 29, 2008 he died of an overdose of...
, microbiologist and vaccinologist; identified by the FBI as the Amerithrax culprit - Philip M. Zack, microbiologist
- Thomas A. Miller, PhD, Entomologist and former Administrator of Bioeffects Research until his myterious death in 1989.
Popular culture references
- Richard PrestonRichard PrestonRichard Preston, born August 5, 1954 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., is a New Yorker writer and bestselling author perhaps best-known for his books about infectious disease epidemics and bioterrorism, although he has written other non-fiction works...
's bestselling 1994 bookBookA book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
The Hot ZoneThe Hot ZoneThe Hot Zone is a best-selling 1994 non-fiction bio-thriller by Richard Preston about the origins and incidents involving viral hemorrhagic fevers, particularly ebolaviruses and marburgviruses...
(ISBN 0-385-47956-5) likely influenced the film Carriers (1998). - USAMRIID was prominently featured in Tom ClancyTom ClancyThomas Leo "Tom" Clancy, Jr. is an American author, best known for his technically detailed espionage, military science, and techno thriller storylines set during and in the aftermath of the Cold War, along with video games on which he did not work, but which bear his name for licensing and...
's Jack RyanJack Ryan (Tom Clancy)John Patrick "Jack" Ryan, Sr. is a fictional character created by Tom Clancy who appears in many of his novels.-Backstory:Born in 1950, Ryan's background is established in Patriot Games and Red Rabbit. His father was Emmet William Ryan , a police homicide lieutenant in Baltimore, and World War II...
novel Executive OrdersExecutive OrdersExecutive Orders is a political and military thriller novel by Tom Clancy. It was published in 1996, and is a canonical part of the Jack Ryan universe.-Plot summary:...
(1996). - The opening sequence from 1995 film OutbreakOutbreak (film)Outbreak is a 1995 American disaster film starring Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Morgan Freeman, and Kevin Spacey. The film was directed by Wolfgang Petersen. In addition, Outbreak features Cuba Gooding, Jr., Donald Sutherland, and Patrick Dempsey....
misrepresents Biosafety Level-4 (BSL-4) suites within USAMRIID. - USAMRIID was referenced in the science fiction television series First Wave (1998–2001).
- USAMRIID was the employer of the hero of the short-lived television series, Strange WorldStrange World (TV series)Strange World is a short-lived American television program about military investigations into criminal abuses of science and technology. ABC commissioned thirteen episodes, of which only three aired in March, 1999, before they cancelled the program. By the time ABC officially axed the show, the...
(1999). - In Robert LudlumRobert LudlumRobert Ludlum was an American author of 23 thriller novels. The number of his books in print is estimated between 290–500 million copies. They have been published in 33 languages and 40 countries. Ludlum also published books under the pseudonyms Jonathan Ryder and Michael Shepherd.-Life and...
's "Covert-One" book series (2000–2010), Lt. Col. Jon Smith uses a job at USAMRIID as a cover for his assignments. - The protagonist of Orson Scott CardOrson Scott CardOrson Scott Card is an American author, critic, public speaker, essayist, columnist, and political activist. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the...
's book Invasive ProceduresInvasive Procedures (novel)Invasive Procedures is a medical thriller by Orson Scott Card and screenwriter Aaron Johnston. This novel was based on the short story "Malpractice" by Card.-Plot:...
(2007) is a virologist at USAMRIID. - In the movie OutbreakOutbreak (film)Outbreak is a 1995 American disaster film starring Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Morgan Freeman, and Kevin Spacey. The film was directed by Wolfgang Petersen. In addition, Outbreak features Cuba Gooding, Jr., Donald Sutherland, and Patrick Dempsey....
(1995) Dustin HoffmanDustin HoffmanDustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
's character Colonel Sam Daniels is a USAMRIID virologist who spearheads the research into the movies fictitious Ebola-like virus called Motaba. USAMRIID produced a vaccine serum, E-1101; but because they wanted to use the virus as a weapon, they failed to reveal the existence of the serum before the virus mutates. - Fictional USAMRIID facilities and characters were featured in a portion of the fictional medical video game Trauma TeamTrauma TeamTrauma Team, known in Japan as is a video game for the Wii console. The game is part of the Trauma Center series by Atlus. The game was released on May 18, 2010 in North America....
.
See also
- United States Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical DefenseUnited States Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical DefenseThe United States Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense is a military research institute located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, USA, and is used by the United States Army for the development, testing, and evaluation of therapy and material to prevent and treat casualties of...
- Walter Reed Army Institute of ResearchWalter Reed Army Institute of ResearchThis article is about the U.S. Army medical research institute . Otherwise, see Walter Reed .The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research is the largest biomedical research facility administered by the U.S. Department of Defense...
- National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures CenterNational Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures CenterThe National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center is a government biodefense research laboratory created by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and located at the sprawling biodefense campus at Fort Detrick in Frederick, MD, USA. Created quietly a few months after the 2001 anthrax...