United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases

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The United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID, pronounced you-SAM-rid) is a military research institute for medicine based at Fort Detrick, Frederick, Maryland used for research of infectious disease that may have defensive applications against biological warfare that would protect the citizens of the United States. Colonel George W. Korch is the current commander.

USAMRIID was for a time the only United States Department of Defense laboratory equipped to study highly hazardous viruses at Biosafety Level 4. There is another at the National Naval Medical Center currently.

USAMRIID is a critical resource for the Army, the Department of Defense, and the United States. It has award-winning military and civilian scientists, highly trained support personnel, and unique, state-of-the-art research facilities. Investigators at the facilities contribute to advances in scientific knowledge and collaborate with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and academic centers of excellence worldwide.

The research institute was the first bio-facility of its type to research the Ames strain of anthrax, determined through genetic analysis to be the bacterium used in the 2001 anthrax attacks. ^[1][2]

Popular culture references

The organization's role in Ebola Reston outbreak of 1989 was the focus of Richard Preston's bestselling 1994 book The Hot Zone (ISBN 0-385-47956-5) and his subsequent book The Demon in the Freezer. The former book provided loose source material for the 1995 biomedical movie thriller Outbreak. Another film is "Carriers" (1997).

USAMRIID was also referred to in the science fiction television series First Wave (1998-2001), and was the employer of the hero of the short-lived television series, Strange World.

In Robert Ludlum's Covert-One book series, Lt Col Jon Smith uses his job at USAMRIID as a cover for his assignments.

USAMRIID is also prominently featured in Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan novel Executive Orders.

The protagonist of Orson Scott Card's book Invasive Procedures is a virologist at USAMRIID.

See also

• United States Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense
• National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center

References