Science Magazine July 12, 2007 U.S. federal officials yesterday announced a short list of five possible sites for a new high-security agricultural biodefense lab. One of them will be awarded the $450 million facility, slated to open in 2012, which will study deadly animal diseases such as hoof-and-mouth disease, Nipah virus, and African swine fever. . . . The five "represent quite a spread in the scale and quality of infrastructure that is called for," says infectious disease researcher Frederick Murphy of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. For example, the North Carolina site, led by North Carolina State University, is near two major medical schools. Kansas State University has a top veterinary school, and San Antonio has a new medical school and a primate lab. Some observers suggest politics also played a role, noting that the five finalists are all in Republican states.