Following the July 11 selection of a University site as one of five finalists for the National Bio and Agro-Defense facility, University officials are continuing efforts to get this facility.

The facility will serve as a spot for biosafety laboratories. It will also provide a place to research zoonic diseases such as the West Nile Virus, avian influenza and anthrax.

David Lee, the vice president of the office of research, said the site in Athens would be good, thanks to its proximity to the Center for Disease Control and University facilities.

The team working with the Department of Homeland Security has been joined by administrators and some Georgian politicians, including Gov. Sonny Perdue and U.S. senators Isakson and Chambliss. Lee called the team’s work a “statewide effort.”

“Georgia will continue working hard to convince federal officials that we have the right combination of resources, infrastructure and talent to bring this research center to our state,” Perdue said in a news release.

Lee said administrators have been “extremely supportive and enthusiastic.” He said the team received a “modest budget, allowing us to do everything we need to do to make our case.”

As the team prepares for the Department of Homeland Security’s final selection in October 2008, Lee said the team will make “very careful environmental analyses.”