National Animal Disease Center, Ames, Iowa

• Scope of work under Recovery Act

Amount: $10.5 million

Repair of critical deferred maintenance including replacing of mechanical and electrical systems, envelope, and finishes in low containment animal facilities Buildings 3 and 4 and miscellaneous critical infrastructure needs.

Milestones - To be updated as milestones are completed.

Construction Photos

Research at the National Animal Disease Center

The National Animal Disease Center (NADC) is the largest Federal animal disease research center in the United States working on major diseases of livestock and poultry. Research done here is solving major animal health and food safety problems faced by livestock producers and the public.

For example, NADC scientists are doing research on how to stop contamination of cattle by E. coli O157:H7, which causes severe illness and even death in humans if they eat contaminated meat. Such research is critical for designing and evaluating strategies aimed at reducing infection and providing a safer product for the consumer.

For example, scientists at NADC discovered that simply adding vitamin E to the diets of turkeys boosts their immune systems sufficiently to detect and destroy disease-causing pathogens like listeria, effectively enhancing the quality, safety, and shelf life of poultry meat. This, in turn, reduces the likelihood of consumers contracting serious foodborne illness from the popular holiday and sandwich fowl.

NADC scientists also found that moderately increasing vitamin D fed to cattle prior to slaughter is a safe way of providing consumers with tender beef. Raising cattle's blood calcium 20 to 30

percent by feeding the animals extra vitamin D3, beginning two to three days before slaughter, results in an increase in muscle calcium and more tender cuts of meat. Elevated calcium triggers the tenderizing process by activating postmortem muscle enzymes that can help degrade structural proteins that toughen meat.

Project Photographs Before Construction