A new federal report released Friday concluded that an animal disease outbreak coming from any of the five locations being considered for a new high-security laboratory could be the cause of an economic disaster compared to an outbreak from Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York, where research is now conducted.

The 1,005-page report made by the Department of Homeland Security estimates that economic losses caused by a possible outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease could surpass $4 billion if the lab were built near livestock herds in Kansas or Texas, two options the Bush administration is considering. That would mean roughly $1 billion more than the federal estimates of losses blamed on a hypothetical outbreak from its existing laboratory on Plum Island.

The U.S. considers Athens, Ga., Manhattan, Kan.; Butner, N.C.; San Antonio; and Flora, Miss. as possible locations of a research laboratory. If the new lab is built in Georgia, North Carolina, or Mississippi, the losses are estimated at $3.3 billion, the report said. If an outbreak starts at Plum Island laboratory losses are estimated at $2.8 billion. Therefore, the report concluded that it is more financially secure to keep the lab at its existing location, Plum Island.

A final choice on where the laboratory will be build is expected by late fall. Foot-and-mouth disease does not represent a threat for humans but it could be devastating for herds of cattle, swine, lambs and sheep.

“What the EIS (environmental impact statement) concludes is that the likelihood of release of foot-and-mouth disease is extremely low. However, in the event that foot-and-mouth does get out, what does that mean to these sites?” the Homeland Security official in charge of the study, Jamie Johnson of the Office of National Laboratories, said as quoted by the Associated Press.