and all laboratories coming on line after that. The official opening took place in June 1999. Following the SARS outbreak in 2003, the Public Health Agency of Canada was formed in 2004 to provide a stronger focus on public health and emergency preparedness in the country. It is a member of the federal Health Portfolio (along with Health Canada, the Canadian Institute of Health Research, and other organizations). The NML (PHAC) fired Chinese nationals Xiangguo Qiu and her husband Keding Cheng from their jobs as BSL4 infectious disease researchers in January 2021; previously in July 2019 the pair had been dismissed from their positions as unpaid members of the University of Winnipeg for their agency in a mysterious trans-Pacific shipment of BSL4-grade virus materials back to their homeland when the RCMP was called in. Containment Human pathogens are classified into risk groups. The criteria to determine the group includes the level of risk to the health of a person or to public health, as well as the likelihood that the human pathogen will actually cause disease in a human, and whether treatment and preventative measures are available. It can depend on the type of work being done as to which level of containment is needed for pathogens from specific risk groups; as an example, culturing (or growing) a virus or bacterium requires higher containment than some diagnostic tests. NML operates Containment Level 2, 3 and 4 laboratories. In human health infectious disease laboratories, the design and construction of the facility, the engineering controls, and the training and techniques of staff are all focused on protecting lab workers, containing the pathogens, and preventing contamination of materials to ensure accurate diagnosis and research. All of these factors vary depending on the level of containment. The vast majority (87.7%) of NML's lab space is Containment Level 2 (CL2). This is the same type of laboratory found in doctors' offices, hospitals and universities. In a Level 2 lab, work with infectious materials is done inside a biosafety cabinet (BSC) and appropriate personal protective gear is worn relative to activities (gloves, eye protection, lab coats, gowns, etc.). Risk Group 2 pathogens worked with in Level 2 can cause disease but are not a serious hazard and they are often circulating in the community. Environmental contamination must be minimized by the use of hand washing sinks and decontamination facilities such as autoclaves. Examples include E-coli; whooping