I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
A new, state-of-the-art Scientific Laboratory facility in Albuquerque will enhance the state’s testing for infectious diseases, boost its response to threats like bioterrorism and strengthen training of New Mexico law enforcement in the use of breath alcohol testing equipment, the Department of Health announced Friday.
The Scientific Laboratory, New Mexico’s sole public health laboratory, moved into a new $86 million building in mid September, where it will share space with Office of the Medical Investigator and the Department of Agriculture Veterinary Diagnostics Services, according to a news release the health agency issued.
“The opening of our new public health, environmental and toxicology testing laboratory marks the culmination of an 11-year effort that places New Mexico at the forefront of the nation,” David Mills, director of the Scientific Laboratory, was quoted as saying in the news release.
In addition to ensuring New Mexico’s water, air and milk are safe from chemical hazards, the lab’s scientists test for infectious diseases like flu and plague, perform drug testing for DWIs and autopsies, and test food associated in food-borne outbreaks, the news release said.
According to the agency, the new building provides a safer environment for the Scientific Laboratory’s scientists “to work with deadly biological and chemical agents, such as rabies, anthrax and tuberculosis,” because the building “has the proper ventilation and electrical needs for new technology and for work with dangerous chemical hazards.”
The new building also will expand the science lab’s capacity for developing “new molecular diagnostics for emerging infectious diseases.”
The new building more than doubles the space the three agencies had when housed on the University of New Mexico campus, the agency said.
“The space and features in our new laboratory will enable New Mexico to continue providing cutting edge science that protects the health and safety of New Mexicans,” the state’s health secretary Alfredo Vigil, MD, was quoted as saying in the release. “When new diseases like H1N1 influenza emerge, we will be better prepared to perform the necessary testing to help us control the spread of diseases.”
