By: Camille Ledoux
The Aerobiology Division is responsible for working in Biosafety Level 3 and Biosafety Level 4 containment to aerosolize the infectious agent’s researcher’s at UTMB study. Oftentimes these are select agents or high priority pathogens with significance to One Health. When a researcher needs to work with an airborne pathogen that must be aerosolized for an experiment like an animal challenge, they contact the Aerobiology Division for assistance. After the researcher sends details on the pathogen and an aliquot, the Aerobiology Division conducts an initial aerosolization experiment in containment to determine spray factor. Spray factor provides information on pathogen stability during aerosolization when significant sheer forces are created which can negatively impact pathogen viability. The impact of the sheer forces varies depending on the pathogen, and while there are some similarities between viral classes or bacterial families, the impact must be determined for each individual pathogen and mediated so challenged animals receive the correct dose. Once this initial testing is done, animals can be challenged with the pathogen of interest in the animal Biosafety Level 3 or 4 facility.
The work done by the Aerobiology Division is vital to fulfilling the Galveston National Lab’s mission of promoting health in our community. By aerosolizing pathogens in containment for various studies, different therapeutics can be tested and evaluated for efficacy. Additionally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Aerobiology Division made it possible to test products like air purification and filtration systems that industry partners had developed to decontaminate air containing aerosolized SARS-CoV-2. This was a major area of interest prior to widespread vaccine availability and in the future similar studies could prevent hospital acquired infections, improve health outcomes for animals and humans, a major goal of One Health, and help us be better prepared for the next pandemic. As Dr. Lawrence so eloquently put: “The fight against future outbreaks is the testing of medical countermeasures today.”
References:
- Immunity [ihii, I. for H. I. and. (n.d.). Utmb galveston national lab. Galveston National Laboratory. Retrieved November 15, 2023, from https://www.utmb.edu/gnl/home