Change House 
Another gateway building is_ the 
change house. It is divided into two 
completely separate sections. The north 
section, which opens into the compound 
area, serves scientists, animal caretakers, 
and maintenance men who work in the 
animal isolation laboratories and service 
buildings. The south section adjoins the 
quarantine area. Workers handling dis- 
eased animals have no on-the-job con- 
tact with their counterparts in the 
disease-free animal colony. This ar- 
rangement prevents accidental spread of 
disease by humans from contaminated 
to clean animals. 
Dressing rooms containing lockers for 
street clothes lead to showers, which 
open into inside dressing rooms. Here 
workers are supplied prescribed work 
clothes—gray coveralls for animal care- 
takers in the quarantine area or tan 
coveralls for men in transit inside the 
compound. Each side of the change 
house contains a lunchroom. 
The center’s safety plan calls for 
soap-and-water showers for workers 
leaving contaminated areas. 
The emphasis on safety extends to all 
materials, supplies, and animals used to 
study disease. Animals and materials 
are taken into research areas through air 
locks. Because this air-lock system is 
electrically controlled, the outer door can- 
not be opened until the inner door to 
the laboratory is sealed, and vice versa. 
Everything that enters a research area is 
considered contaminated and—except the 
scientists themselves—is either sterilized 
before it leaves or incinerated within the 
area. Even the air is passed through 
bacterial filters before it is exhausted. 
Sewer outlets in each unit contain traps 
N—40801 
Team of scientists in research unit of main laboratory. 
to prevent backflow of bacteria and 
waste. 
Main Laboratory 
The main laboratory is an H-shaped 
one-story building located behind the ad- 
ministration building. It has 25 re- 
search units and 7 regulatory units. A 
central services area is located in the 
crossbar of the H. 
In this building, teams of scientists 
probe into the causes of infectious ani- 
mal diseases. They study specific bac- 
teria, fungi, viruses, rickettsiae, or 
pathological conditions. They determine 
the effect of the causative agents on 
small animals—guinea pigs, mice, rats, 
rabbits, hamsters, and ferrets. Research 
on a disease complex—such as respira- 
tory diseases of cattle—can include bac- 
teriological, virological, serological, path- 
ological, immunological, and animal 
inoculation studies. 
In their research with small animals, 
the laboratory scientists seek funda- 
mental information cause, trans- 
mission, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, 
about 
and control of diseases of livestock. <A 
scientific team may move from the main 
laboratory to an animal isolation labora- 
tory as work progresses. 
