By BRIAN GRIMMETT

The terms for handing off the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan, Kansas, have been settled — even as the billion-dollar-plus research site remains under construction.

In the agreement signed this week, the Department of Homeland Security remains responsible for completing construction of the state-of-the-art research facility. But it will hand over the job of running the place to the U.S. Department of Agriculture when construction wraps up. That’s expected at the end of 2020.

Now the USDA won’t be a tenant, it’ll be the landlord.

“The roles of the research people does not change,” DHS NBAF Coordinator Tim Barr said. “The security setting does not change. The relationships that exist with the FBI and other entities, that does not change at all.”

NBAF is intended to be a world-class animal disease research facility and will ultimately be the only location in the U.S. where scientists will study live foot-and-mouth disease in livestock.

Once finished, the building will house more than 500,000 square feet of laboratory space, including the nation’s first biosafety Level 4 large animal research laboratory.

The BSL-4 laboratory will allow researchers to study deadly zoonotic diseases — those that are highly contagious and can spread between humans and animals — that don’t have any known vaccinations or treatments.

NBAF will be replacing the aging Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York.

The USDA recently opened up an office in Manhattan to begin recruiting potential employees.

“A facility like this allows us to bring those people in, do the work that we need to do and be more prepared to stand-up operationally when we move into the NBAF facility,” said Ken Burton, USDA’s NBAF coordinator.

He said the agency would like to have 80% of the workforce needed for NBAF hired by the end of 2020.

The USDA expects to need as many as 400 employees once the facility is completely up and running at the end of 2022.

Brian Grimmett reports on the environment, energy and natural resources for KMUW in Wichita and the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @briangrimmett or email grimmett (at) kmuw (dot) org.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — University of Missouri System officials say a new health institute focused on personalized medicine should bring hope to Missourians suffering from deadly diseases.

The official groundbreaking for the $220.8 million NextGen Precision Health Institute was held on Friday at the University of Missouri campus.

The center is expected to open in October 2012. It is the first research facility opened on the Columbia campus since the Bond Life Sciences Center opened in 2004.

System President Mun Choi said the center will predict, prevent and cure cancer, neurological and vascular diseases. Current researchers at the system’s other campuses and health facilities will collaborate with researchers at the new institute.

The center received $10 million from the state this year. The university has pledged $50 million.

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating the  death of a Kansas man and asking the public for help with information.

Just before 10a.m. June 17, police were dispatched to a residence in the 700 block of SW Wayne in Topeka in reference to the
discovery of the body of a man in the home, according to Lt. Andrew Beightel. The victim was later identified as 36-year-old
John K. Waller of Topeka.

Police are asking the public to come forward with any information related to this case. Specifically, police are asking anyone in the area of SW 6th Ave. and SW MacVicar Ave. between June 3, 2019 and June 4, 2019 to remember if they saw or heard any suspicious activity. Police need anyone in the area with a home surveillance system or cameras to review them for even the smallest detail. It could help bring the victim’s family justice in this very difficult time and get the suspect(s) off
the streets.

The Shawnee County Crime Stoppers is offering up to a $2,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest in this case.

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SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are now investigating the suspicious death of a Kansas man and have identified the victim.

Just before 10a.m. Monday, police were dispatched to a residence in the 700 block of SW Wayne in Topeka in reference to the discovery of the body of a man in the house, according to Lt. Andrew Beightel.

Officers located the body identified as 36-year-old John K. Waller and he was pronounced dead by medical personnel.

There were several suspicious circumstances witnessed by the responding officers so, the residence was secured and crime scene officers and detectives investigated the scene.

Through evidence found at the crime scene and information from the coroner’s office, police are  investigating this crime as a homicide

VAN BUREN, Mo. (AP) — A 22-year-old southern Missouri man drowned after tree fell on him while he was on the Current River.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol says Levi Mayberry died Friday when the tree hit a boat he was on about 10 miles (16.09 kilometers) north of Van Buren. He is listed on the report as the driver of the boat.

Two other people from Van Buren were taken to a hospital for treatment of moderate injuries.

Carter County Coroner Eric McSpadden pronounced Mayberry dead Friday evening. The coroner said the accident occurred when storms with strong winds were blowing through the area.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri prison officials have authorized treatment of only 15 of the 4,590 Missouri prison inmates who have been diagnosed with chronic hepatitis C, according to a motion filed by the American Civil Liberties Union this past week.

The ACLU is seeking an emergency court order to force the Missouri Department of Corrections and its medical provider, Corizon LLC, to begin testing and treating inmates with the viral infection, KCUR reported.

The motion filed Monday is the latest move in a class action lawsuit filed by the ACLU contending that state prison officials and Corizon are systematically denying medical treatment for prisoners with hepatitis C.

“We’re asking the court to, first of all, order the state to begin appropriate testing to know who does and does not have hepatitis C and to begin a more robust treatment of persons with hepatitis C,” said Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Missouri.

Corizon and Corrections Department officials declined to comment on the motion, citing the ongoing litigation.

About 10% to 15% of Missouri’s roughly 52,000 prisoners are thought to be infected with hepatitis C, according to the Corrections Department.

The class-action lawsuit could affect potentially thousands of inmates. It was certified as a class-action lawsuit in July 2017 but it had stalled while Missouri appealed the class-action ruling. An appeals court confirmed the class-action status in December.

Symptoms of hepatitis C range from mild illness to cirrhosis, which can cause death. It is the most common blood-borne viral infection in the United States, affecting about 2.4 million people in the country.

About 97% of inmates nationwide with hepatitis C are not getting treatment, according to a survey conducted at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved several antiviral drugs with a success rate of more than 95% to treat the disease. With the advent of generic drugs, the cost of an individual eight- to 12-week course of treatment has dropped from up to $90,000 or more to about $20,000.

Last year, Kansas agreed to pay for the cost of treating Medicaid patients with hepatitis C. But hundreds of infected Kansas inmates are not covered by the settlement and are awaiting treatment.