After the events of September 11th, 2001 it became imperative that the nation's food supply be protected from terrorist threat. A hostile virus that would damage or put the United States food supply at risk was no longer a passing thought.
Consequently, when the Department of Homeland Security decided to move the outdated infectious disease facility from Plum Island NY to another location, the competition was fierce for this new billion dollar facility. Eventually, Manhattan Kansas was chosen for the location of this extremely important work. One of the main reasons that the Department of Homeland Security picked Manhattan was the foresight of many local leaders to develop the Pat Roberts Bio-Security Institute at K-State university in 1999.
Kansas State's expertise in animal and plant health made for a natural progression to the mission of the National Biological and Agricultural Facility (NBAF). That coupled with its location, the Animal Health Corridor was formed. Between Manhattan, Kansas and Columbia, Missouri sits the single largest concentration of animal health and nutrition companies in the world.
NBAF has already started to attract other businesses to the area that need to be close to this state of the art, level 4 bio-security facility.
In recent years Manhattan has welcomed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s presence of the new National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility as ownership of this department has been shifted from Homeland Security.
Learn more at usda.gov/nbaf
