Environmental Microbial Safety Laboratory Animal & Natural Resources Institute Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center USDA Agricultural Research Service Building 173, BARC-East Beltsville, MD 20705 http://www.ars.usda.gov/ba/anri/emsl

Mission: The mission of the Environmental Microbial Safety Laboratory (EMSL) is to identify, determine sources, and reduce transmission of enteric microorganisms that affect the health of food animals and can also be transmitted to the environment and humans by contaminated food and water. Research is designed to develop and test novel methods to identify and characterize pathogenic enteric microorganisms in livestock, potential wild animal vectors, as well as edible plants, milk, meat, soil and water impacted by agriculture; develop physical, chemical, and immunological methods to reduce the number and virulence of these microorganisms. Facilities: Offices and laboratories are located primarily in Building 173 on Powder Mill Road in the BARC complex. Animal facilities are located within the adjacent Building 167, the "Old Barn" and are operated under BSL-2 containment. Located in Building 173 is a variety of specialized equipment for molecular characterization of pathogens (e.g. high throughput capillary nucleic acid sequencer, numerous fixed and portable real-time PCR devices, robotic processing devices, and nucleic acid extractors) as well as the standard office facilities needed to support the 8 full-time scientists and staff of 25 located at the site. Expertise: Scientific disciplines represented in the laboratory include parasitology, molecular biology, bacteriology, animal science, soil science, and hydrology. There are currently several visiting scientists/post-doctoral research associates in the lab. Several collaborative agreements also make use of input from scientists from Universities, Industry and other Federal agencies.