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An Anonymous Coward writes:

A new CDC lab [bizjournals.com] will cost up to $480 million:

The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it needs to replace its aging high containment lab, which handles some of the world's most dangerous contagions.

The project would cost $350 million to build. But over three years, the total budget could reach $480 million, also funding campus infrastructure improvements, such as extending utility tunnels to support the new lab. The CDC is in the early stages of asking Congress for the funds.

In its current "high containment lab" (HCL), the CDC develops and performs diagnostic tests for the deadliest disease threats, including emerging influenza viruses and viral hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola and Lassa fever.

[...] Without investment, the CDC's current lab will be left with only a fraction of its current research space and the agency will fall behind in protecting, defending and responding to infectious disease threats. In the next few years, it faces a risk of an unplanned and potentially catastrophic shutdown.

Meanwhile, a CDC employee has been missing [wsbtv.com] since he called in sick from work.

Also at Time [time.com].

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