University of Florida Opens TB Lab In Haiti

The University of Florida is opening a state-of-the-art lab in Haiti to train researchers to better understand and fight tuberculosis.

Dr. Michael Lauzardo says that the 1,500 square-feet (139 square-meters) facility will bring graduate students from outside Haiti to work with Haitian technicians who will then go on to work at the national laboratory.

There are only three other TB labs in Haiti and more are greatly needed.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that Haiti has the highest rate of TB in the hemisphere, and that nearly 40 percent of the people with TB go undiagnosed.

The lab was built for less than $150,000 and is housed in a compound west of the Port-au-Prince capital.

The university is holding an opening ceremony on Wednesday.