National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility

Georgia is a finalist candidate for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF), a new national facility that would address the federal government’s need for research and development space to meet threats from emerging disease pandemics and bio- and agro-terrorism.

The new national facility will be dedicated to research on foreign animal and zoonotic diseases (those that pass from animals to humans). Researchers will focus on developing tests to detect diseases and countermeasures (vaccines) to prevent diseases.

The bid to attract the NBAF to Georgia was developed by the Georgia Consortium for Health and Agro-Security, a statewide collaboration led by Governor Sonny Perdue. With a constellation of nationally and internationally recognized resources in infectious disease research, vaccine and diagnostic test development and food safety, Georgia is uniquely qualified to protect the nation against infectious agents, whether they are from terrorism or natural causes. The University of Georgia is the consortium’s lead agency.

The Athens site selected is University of Georgia-owned property on South Milledge Avenue near Whitehall Road, on the southern end of campus used as an extended animal farm for the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. The site is only minutes from the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine, the Animal Health Research Center, USDA facilities, Merial Ltd., and Athens Technical College, as well as the Athens bypass and connecting highway network.

Site Map