Pork Industry Tours National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility
Swine health representatives visited the Manhattan, Kansas, lab and Kansas State University's Biosecurity Research Institute as USDA moves its work from Plum Island.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Pet Health
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Swine health industry representatives toured the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility and Kansas State University's Biosecurity Research Institute. The USDA will transfer research and diagnostic missions from the Plum Island Animal Disease Center to the new facility.
Why it matters
NBAF is intended to protect the nation against serious animal diseases, and it replaces a biosafety level-3 facility more than 68 years old. More than 70% of new and emerging human infectious diseases are zoonotic, which links animal health research to public health.
NBAF is the first U.S. facility with maximum biocontainment laboratories for veterinary diagnostics, countermeasures and vaccines, and USDA will own and operate it in Manhattan, Kansas. The extraction does not state the transition timeline from Plum Island.
The players
National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF)
A USDA-owned and operated biocontainment laboratory in Manhattan, Kansas, designed to study and defend against serious animal diseases.
Swine Health Information Center (SHIC)
An industry-funded organization launched in 2015 by the National Pork Board and supported by America's pork producers to safeguard swine health.
Kansas State University Biosecurity Research Institute
A multidisciplinary research institute at Kansas State University that studies multiple pathogens and host species within a single facility.
The details
Representatives of the swine health industry toured NBAF and Kansas State University's Biosecurity Research Institute, which conducts multidisciplinary research on multiple pathogens and host species in one facility. USDA Agricultural Research Service and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will jointly operate NBAF, and USDA has begun a transition phase from Plum Island.
Timeline
December 2022: NBAF contractor construction and commissioning were completed.
Early April 2023: NBAF provided a facility and research update to swine industry staff leaders.
2015: The Swine Health Information Center was launched by the National Pork Board.
Culture Shift
The move from Plum Island to NBAF reflects the USDA's push to consolidate animal disease research into a single modern biocontainment facility. Since over 70% of new human infectious diseases are zoonotic, this shift ties animal health protection more closely to public health priorities.
Pet owners and livestock-adjacent readers will see research on zoonotic and animal diseases move to NBAF over time. The extraction does not describe any direct change to pet care services or access in Manhattan.
The takeaway
Animal disease research increasingly protects both livestock and people, since most emerging human infectious diseases come from animals. Readers interested in animal health can follow how NBAF's programs develop as the transition from Plum Island proceeds.
Further reading
For more on animal disease prevention, see Pet Health coverage in Manhattan.
Source note: This article includes information reported by National Hog Farmer.
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