On Oct. 6, Gov. Rick Perry announced the creation of the Texas Task Force on Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response, which will assess and enhance the state's existing capabilities to prepare for and respond to pandemic disease, such as the Ebola virus. The governor named UTMB's Thomas Ksiazek and James LeDuc as members of a team of internationally renowned experts in epidemiology and infectious disease.
A day after announcing the creation of a new task force aimed at combatting infectious disease, Gov. Rick Perry toured the Galveston National Laboratory at The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston. On the tour, the governor received an overview of the work the lab is conducting to better understand and respond to pandemic disease. The facility is one of two National Biocontainment Laboratories in the United States and studies infectious diseases such as Ebola.