The National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) is a division of the Public Health Agency of Canada that is located in the Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health in Winnipeg, Manitoba. This modern state-of-the-art facility houses the NML's Biological Safety Level 4 (BSL-4) containment laboratory, currently Canada's only BSL-4 laboratory. As a maximum containment facility, the NML deals with the most serious human and animal pathogens and diseases, such as SARS, Ebola and Lassa fever. It was the facility chosen for the reconstruction of the 1918 influenza virus.[1]
The research centre is a member of the US Bioterrorism Response Network.
At the onset of the 2009 swine flu outbreak the NML, with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control were first to identify the specific virus and produce the necessary reagents to positively test for it.[2][3]