UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Local residents and the Penn State community can get a rare glimpse inside the nation's first line of defense against foreign animal diseases when a team of scientists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Plum Island Animal Disease Center present a free public lecture at 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 18 in 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building on the University Park campus.

The presentation, "Science on Plum Island: Foreign Animal Diseases," is sponsored by the College of Agricultural Sciences Office of Undergraduate Education and the Penn State chapter of Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS). The Plum Island team's visit is in conjunction with the MANRRS regional conference being hosted by Penn State.

Located off the northeastern tip of New York's Long Island, the Plum Island laboratory houses research, diagnostic and training programs carried out by scientists and veterinarians with USDA's Agricultural Research Service and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The lab helps to protect the nation's animal industries and exports from catastrophic economic losses caused by foreign animal disease agents accidentally or deliberately introduced into the country.

In the United States, certain highly infectious foreign animal diseases, such as foot-and-mouth disease, can be studied only at Plum Island. The facility has been overseen by the Department of Homeland Security since 2003.

Presenters at the lecture will be microbiologists August Ebering and Patricia Glas; laboratory control technician Barry Latney; and Ming Deng, head of Plum Island's Reagent and Vaccine Services Section.

The scientists will be guests at a reception in the lobby of Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building immediately following the lecture.

For more information, contact Catherine Lyons at 814-863-2834.

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Editor: Chuck Gill Penn State Ag Sciences News Office: 814-863-2719