USAMRIID - Highlights


		USAMRIID was established by General Order No. 6, dated 27 January 1969, Office of the Surgeon General of the Army. Its mission: To develop medical defenses against biological warfare threats. Since its inception, USAMRIID has played a key role as the Department of Defense’s (DoD) lead laboratory for medical aspects of biological defense. The Institute develops vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, and information to protect U.S. service members from biological warfare threats and endemic diseases. It is the only laboratory within DoD with the capability to study highly hazardous viruses requiring maximum containment at biosafety level 4 (BSL-4). While USAMRIID’s primary mission is to protect the warfighter, its research has applications that benefit society as a whole, as demonstrated by the following highlights: 1971: When an outbreak of Venezuelan equine encephalitis threatened both humans and animals in the southern United States, the vaccine developed at USAMRIID was used to quell the disease. 1977: When Rift Valley fever broke out in Egypt, the vaccine developed at USAMRIID was used to protect people at high risk. 1982: USAMRIID’s maximum-containment treatment facility was needed to provide care for two scientists from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. The men were exposed to partially thawed rat blood contaminated with Lassa fever virus. USAMRIID had been studying Lassa fever, an African hemorrhagic disease, for over a decade. The patients were quarantined for more than 15 days, then released and pronounced free of any signs of the disease. Concurrently, three other patients were isolated in the ward after having been exposed to Lassa fever. They, too, were released after quarantine, free of the disease. Mid-1980s: At the request of the Italian government, the tularemia vaccine developed by USAMRIID was sent to Italy to protect humans from an epidemic. 1988: When Rift Valley fever became an epidemic along the Senegal River in Senegal and Mauritania, USAMRIID sent an epidemiological team to collaborate with investigators at the Institut Pasteur in selectively administering the veterinary vaccine to stop the spread of disease. 1989: USAMRIID rushed immune globulin to San Francisco in a matter of hours to save a baby from infant botulism. 1989-1990: A commercial laboratory in Reston, Virginia, called on USAMRIID scientists for help with a mysterious disease that was killing primates imported for use in biomedical research. A USAMRIID investigator isolated an Ebola-like virus, the causative agent of a particularly deadly hemorrhagic fever, and a USAMRIID team directed the decontamination of the laboratory. There was no spread to laboratory personnel, local residents, or the environment. The diagnostic assay developed at USAMRIID for the disease that came to be called “Ebola Reston” has been made available commercially for use in screening primates imported into the United States. 1990: A university hospital in Sweden requested USAMRIID's expertise in diagnosis and treatment of a patient recently returned from Africa who was thought to have Ebola hemorrhagic fever. Because the patient, in shock and near death, could not be moved, a USAMRIID medical team flew to Sweden within 24 hours of the request. The team, accompanied by portable patient isolation equipment, trained the hospital staff in high-containment, or BSL-4, patient care. The patient survived. 1990-1991: During Operation Desert Shield, USAMRIID became a staging area for shipping drugs, vaccines, diagnostics, supplies, and laboratory equipment for medical support. By the end of Desert Storm, six teams had been organized, trained, and equipped to identify biological warfare and endemic disease threat agents for Theater Army Medical Laboratories (TAMLs). Special studies were also initiated to formulate medical doctrine on the use of anthrax vaccine in conjunction with antibiotics, immunization with botulinum toxoid, and immunoglobulin therapy for botulism. In addition, USAMRIID prepared protocols for the use of antiviral drugs to prevent or treat endemic infectious diseases. 1991: During an outbreak of food-borne botulism in Egypt, more than 50 patients were successfully treated with the botulinum antitoxin developed at USAMRIID. 1993-1994: When outbreaks of hantaviral disease began in the southwestern United States, USAMRIID was called in to consult by the CDC and by various state health departments. USAMRIID scientists assisted with both field investigations and laboratory support. The Institute first isolated the hantavirus strain responsible for hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, and was first to describe hantaviruses as a distinct genus within the family Bunyaviridae. USAMRIID also performed the first molecular characterizations of the viruses and went on to perform the pivotal studies that showed how the viruses replicate. 1994: USAMRIID’s clinical research ward staff conducted a record 43 clinical trials. Inpatient studies were completed, under U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines, on vaccines or treatments for cholera, malaria, Korean hemorrhagic fever, and Rift Valley fever. Outpatient studies were performed at USAMRIID for vaccines to prevent botulism, tick-borne encephalitis, Korean hemorrhagic fever, smallpox, malaria, chikungunya virus disease, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, dengue fever, hepatitis A, and Rift Valley fever. USAMRIID conducted additional outpatient studies at off-site locations, including trials of vaccines for hepatitis A, botulism, anthrax, and smallpox. 1995: USAMRIID was called upon to provide laboratory support and expertise in numerous disease outbreaks. The most publicized, the outbreak of Ebola virus in Zaire, was addressed by USAMRIID personnel who participated in epidemiological field study teams (organized by the World Health Organization [WHO] and the CDC) and those who performed diagnostic tests and virological studies to assist in assessment and control of this serious threat. At the WHO’s request, USAMRIID evaluated an anti-Ebola virus antibody for effectiveness in animal models. The government of Colombia also sought USAMRIID’s assistance in assessment and control of a serious outbreak of Venezuelan equine encephalitis in humans and animals. USAMRIID personnel provided diagnostic testing capability and training to health authorities in the affected area and assisted in the epidemiological evaluation of the outbreak. 1996: USAMRIID identified several antiviral drugs that showed promise for treating infection with smallpox and Ebola viruses. Important milestones were met in the development of several vaccines, including those for Venezuelan equine encephalitis, ricin, and the staphylococcal enterotoxins. Also in 1996, USAMRIID successfully transitioned some of its medical diagnostic technologies to the TAML. With training and equipment provided by USAMRIID, the TAML successfully identified samples of anthrax, plague, and other biological agents in the field. 1997-2004: USAMRIID's Operational Medicine Division has teamed with the CDC, VA, FDA, and USAMRICD to reach an audience of over 90,000 physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals with its "Medical Management of Biological Casualties" training. The numerous satellite broadcasts featured an interactive format that enabled attendees to phone or fax questions directly to the experts in the studio. These broadcasts are now available as a distance learning course reformatted as a web cast archive, a VHS tape, and a DVD set. Both the satellite programs and the in-house resident course (offered several times a year) provide detailed information for military and civilian medical and public health professionals in the recognition and management of biological casualties and in notifying the appropriate response agencies. The target audience is military and civilian medical care providers, public health professionals, clinical laboratory staff, first responders, and others who would assist in recognizing and managing casualties from a biological agent attack. More information is available in the Education and Training section of this website at http://usamriid.detrick.army.mil/education/index.htm. 1998: USAMRIID scientists demonstrated the first effective vaccine candidate for filoviruses in nonhuman primates. The Marburg vaccine developed at USAMRIID, using a replicon platform based on the Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, fully protected monkeys from challenge with lethal doses of Marburg (a virus similar to Ebola). USAMRIID also conducted human clinical trials to assess the safety and immunogenicity of a reduced schedule for anthrax vaccinations with the current licensed product. Data indicated that a 0-4 week schedule was not inferior to the current 0-2-4 week schedule. The FDA requested additional studies to further support eliminating the second dose of vaccine, which would result in substantial cost savings to DoD. 1999: USAMRIID played a key role in the identification and response to an outbreak of West Nile virus in New York. The event marked the first time West Nile virus had been identified in the Western hemisphere, and Institute scientists were among the first to link bird deaths (among wild crows as well as exotic birds in the Bronx Zoo) with human cases of disease. In addition to diagnostic support, USAMRIID entomologists conducted critical vector competence studies to determine which species of mosquito could transmit the virus by bite. USAMRIID also deployed a portable laboratory isolator and other specialized equipment to the Bronx Zoo to enable safe collection of samples (given that West Nile virus is a BSL-3 agent requiring special precautions). 2000: When the CDC was tasked with developing a laboratory response network to respond to bioterrorist attacks, they turned to USAMRIID for help. The Institute helped CDC with developing a threat list and providing ongoing training for the Epidemic Intelligence Service program of the CDC. USAMRIID also helped to map out diagnostic capabilities for civilian response and provided critical research reagents to the CDC. In addition, USAMRIID experts worked directly with state health departments (including those in Alabama, Nebraska, Oregon, West Virginia, Washington, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, and Texas) to develop programs of surveillance, awareness, reporting, and diagnosis specifically tailored to meet the needs of each state. 2001-2002: USAMRIID’s expertise in the laboratory identification and medical management of biological threat agents was brought to bear in the wake of the September 2001 terrorist attacks and the anthrax mailings that followed. The Institute provided diagnostic support to the Department of the Army, DoD, the U.S. Capitol Hill Incident Management Team, the State Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the CDC, and other customers. Between September 2001 and May 2002, over 30,000 samples were received and evaluated, and over 260,000 separate assays were performed, to determine the presence of biological threat agents. The effort, dubbed Operation Noble Eagle, required USAMRIID to expand its capacity for threat agent identification by nearly tenfold, virtually overnight. Personnel worked 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in support of this mission. Challenges included the fact that the majority of the samples were nonmedical (environmental samples and others, including clothing, furniture, rugs, and office equipment). USAMRIID also provided a three-person team to perform on-site sample collection at the American Media Building in Florida (site of the first anthrax letter) and advised federal and state officials on how to decontaminate the building. In addition, the widely publicized strategy for antibiotic treatment of anthrax patients with ciprofloxacin (brand name Cipro) was based on animal research conducted at USAMRIID. Despite the enormity of carrying out Operation Noble Eagle, USAMRIID continued to conduct its research mission, and transitioned 14 diagnostic assays to DoD’s Critical Reagents Program in 2002. 2002: USAMRIID and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, established a research partnership at Fort Detrick to further the biodefense missions of both agencies. Over the next several years, NIAID will construct a laboratory adjacent to USAMRIID, while USAMRIID hopes to expand its current facilities as well. Close proximity and shared resources (such as a new animal-holding facility to support testing of vaccines and therapeutics) will facilitate interagency research on medical countermeasures benefiting both civilian and military populations. 2003: USAMRIID played a key role in developing diagnostic systems and evaluating antiviral drugs for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, during a global outbreak in several countries. Working with the CDC, USAMRIID's Diagnostic Systems Division produced antibodies for use in improved immunodiagnostic tests. The Institute also was among the first to develop specific nucleic acid detection assays for this newly emerging disease agent. Additionally, USAMRIID's Viral Therapeutics Branch evaluated about 300,000 compounds in vitro against the SARS-associated coronavirus. The initial set included 2000 FDA-approved drugs selected in collaboration with NIAID's Preclinical Drug Discovery and Development Program. This effort resulted in the identification of one promising compound that has since gone into clinical trials. 2003: Several Marines returning from Liberia to Ramstein Air Force Base displayed symptoms characteristic of Lassa fever, an acute viral illness not found in the United States. USAMRIID physicians were consulted. They helped facilitate communications between the treating physician at Ramstein and specialists at the Infectious Disease Service at National Naval Medical Center (NNMC). USAMRIID medical personnel promptly updated the necessary protocols and obtained emergency FDA approval to use the investigational drug ribavirin, if necessary. Meanwhile, clinical specimens were received and immediately processed by USAMRIID diagnostics personnel. Their testing ruled out Lassa fever, as well as hantavirus, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Rift Valley fever, and others. The Marines were ultimately diagnosed with malaria and treated. 2003: During the summer of 2003, an outbreak of human monkeypox occurred in the U.S. Midwest. Fifty-two rodents suspected of being infected with monkeypox virus were submitted to USAMRIID for testing. The Institute's Diagnostic Systems Division designed, optimized, and extensively tested two sensitive and specific real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction) assays for rapidly detecting monkeypox virus DNA. The assays were validated against panels of orthopox viral and miscellaneous bacterial DNA. A pan-orthopox electrochemiluminescence (ECL) assay was used to further confirm the presence of orthopoxvirus infection in the rodents. These real-time PCR and ECL assays represent a significant addition to the battery of tests to either screen for or confirm the presence of various orthopoxviruses. Currently, USAMRIID-developed vaccine candidates for anthrax are in clinical testing. Other vaccine candidates for plague, botulinum neurotoxins A and B, and Venezuelan equine encephalitis are in advanced development, as is the Joint Biological Agent Identification System (JBAIDS), an integrated diagnostics platform for biological threat agents. Vaccines for staphylococcal enterotoxins A and B, hantaviruses, and five additional serotypes of botulinum neurotoxins (designated C-G) are soon to be transitioned. About a dozen other vaccines developed at USAMRIID are maintained in Investigational New Drug status and are used to immunize at-risk personnel in the lab and in the field when necessary. The Institute is also working to develop therapeutics for a number of agents, such as Ebola virus, plague, several toxins, and orthopoxviruses (including smallpox, which is studied by USAMRIID investigators at the CDC-the only official repository of the smallpox virus in the United States). In summary, USAMRIID's science and technology base serves to address current threats to U.S. military personnel and is an essential element in the medical response to any future biological threats that may confront our Nation at home or abroad. Return to top Home • About USAMRIID • USAMRIID Highlights Over the Years • Publications Library Business Opportunities • Employment • Education & Training • Reference Materials Related Links • Newsroom • Contact Us Please read this external links disclaimer. Last updated: 27 April, 2004