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FORT COLLINS — Members of Colorado’s congressional delegation are rallying to fend off a 70 percent cut in funding for a federal lab in Fort Collins researching such infectious diseases as West Nile virus and yellow fever. President Barack Obama’s proposed 2011 budget would slash the lab’s budget from $39 million to $12 million. The lab’s supporters say that could mean the loss of about 100 jobs.
The Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases is part of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. U.S. Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet wrote in a letter to Senate budget officials that the proposed budget reduction would severely compromise public health. U.S. Rep. Betsy Markey has written a similar letter to House officials.
