Rocky Mountain Lab Visitors Center opens in Hamilton, Montana

If you want a quick history of Montana’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories all you need is eight minutes.

The federal lab in Hamilton opened up its new visitors center last week, complete with an interactive kiosk that has a short video detailing the lab’s humble beginnings some 100 years ago and what important research has happened there since.

With a touch of the screen, you can also watch a short video on the timeline of tick research at the lab, including work done by Dr. Howard T. Ricketts on Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Dr. Wily Burgdorfer on Lyme disease.

And current discoveries of a bacterium and tick species previously not known to exist in Montana are highlighted. Tom Schwan and Paul Policastro investigated tick-borne relapsing fever to make the discovery.

Another aspect of the visitors center is several lighted displays on tick research throughout the years.

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National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

National Institutes of Health

Rocky Mountain Laboratories

903 South 4th Street

Hamilton, MT 59840

PHO: 406-363-9275

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By PERRY PEARSON – Ravalli Republic

Full Story: http://www.ravallirepublic.com/articles/2006/02/10/news/news03.txt