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The Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI), is the federal institute for animal health of Germany, that country's leading animal disease center. [1] The institute was founded in 1910 and named for its founder, bacteriologist Friedrich Loeffler, in 1952. The FLI is situated on the Isle of Riems, which belongs to the city of Greifswald. Riems is a very small island that can be reached via a dam, which can be closed off in case of an outbreak.[ citation needed ]
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The Friedrich Loeffler Institute is directly subordinated to the German Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection. Its main subject is the thorough study of livestock health and other closely related subjects including molecular biology, diagnosis of viral infections, immunology, and epidemiology. German federal law holds the FLI responsible for national and international animal disease control; it is also the national reference lab for several viral diseases. The institute publishes its research, and cooperates with other national and international institutions and researchers.[ citation needed ]
Among the animal diseases under research are for instance foot and mouth disease, mad cow disease, and avian influenza. [2]
As of 2024, 330 people work for the FLI, and an additional 140 will be employed upon completion of the construction work. The federal govenrment spent €260 million to construct new laboratories and barns on its campus.
As part of this extension, the Riems Institute completed Biosafety level 4 laboratory facilities in 2010, which enabled research activities on the most dangerous of viruses—one of four such facilities in Germany.[ citation needed ]
