Following up on the Bio-Transparency and Openness Initiative announced by Secretary Clinton at the December 2011 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) Review Conference, the U.S. hosted a visit July 24 to its National Interagency Biodefense Campus at Ft. Detrick.
Ambassador Laura Kennedy, U.S. Special Representative for BWC Issues, accompanied a group of Ambassadors posted to Switzerland, including the current BWC Chairman, Algerian Ambassador Delmi. The program included visits to the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) and the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC) of the Department of Homeland Security.
Senior officials from the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Agriculture briefed on the various components that make up the Biodefense Campus, and described the “whole of government” approach the U.S. embraces for biodefense as well as international cooperation and assistance in this vital area.