Editorial: New laboratory is a welcome addition

Friday, May 14, 2004 | 8:48 a.m.

A new, upgraded laboratory for the Clark County Health District has been built and is scheduled to soon be fully operational. Work needs to be finished on special rooms designed to contain dangerous substances, and the lab needs to be officially licensed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. After that, Southern Nevada will have the type of lab it has long needed, particularly in recent years as the threat of bioterrorism has grown.

Built with a $2.3 million grant provided through the Centers for Disease Control, the new lab will enable technicians to identify anthrax, plague and other deadly biological agents. The need for the lab was demonstrated in February 2003, when a Las Vegas man committed suicide. Before he died, he told responders that he had injected himself with a homemade batch of ricin, a deadly poison derived from castor-oil plants. Because samples had to be sent to the state public health lab in Reno, and then on to the CDC, 10 days elapsed before receiving confirmation of ricin, a poison that has been used by terrorists.

There is no time for such delays in today's world. We believe the new lab will add greatly to Southern Nevada's preparedness.