# 2123
Talks on the future of our NAMRU (Naval Medical Research Unit) 2 lab, which has operated out of Jakarta since 1970, are apparently on hold right now, and when they will resume is uncertain.
Our NAMRU labs are among the most sophisticated in the world. Having one on site in a hotspot country like Indonesia could prove vital in any early detection of changes in the H5N1 virus.
This article from the Los Angeles Times has a good overview of the situation, along with an evaluation of what is at stake.
Follow the link to read the entire article.
Scientists warn against closing Navy lab
Indonesia facility is called an asset
By Paul Watson
Los Angeles Times / July 7, 2008
JAKARTA, Indonesia -Threats to shut down a US Navy medical research lab here might undermine the hunt for mutating viruses that could set off the next global flu pandemic, Western scientists warn.
Indonesia suspended negotiations with the United States over the fate of Naval Medical Research Unit No. 2 last month after senior politicians said it didn't benefit Indonesia and could be a cover for spying.
The US Embassy denied the facility is used to gather intelligence, and said most of the lab's staff are Indonesians helping with research carried out in cooperation with local health officials.
The biomedical research lab opened in Jakarta in 1970 and studies tropical diseases including malaria, dengue fever, and avian flu, according to an embassy fact sheet.
It has a staff of about 175 scientists, doctors, veterinarians, and technologists, but only 19 are American. The rest are Indonesians.
Navy research labs also are in Egypt, Kenya, Peru, and Thailand.
Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said last month that his ministry recommended the lab be closed because its operations were too secretive, and were incompatible with Indonesia's security interests.
Dr. Siti Fadilah Supari, the health minister, also said she had recommended to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that it be closed.
