View source for Plum Island Animal Disease Center

{{Short description|American research facility}}
{{Organization 
|OrganizationName=Plum Island Animal Disease Center 
|OrganizationType=Research and Development Agencies
|Mission=PIADC's mission is to protect the United States from accidental or intentional introduction of foreign animal diseases by conducting research, diagnostics, and training on high-consequence livestock diseases. It focuses on preventing outbreaks that could devastate the nation's agricultural sector.
|OrganizationExecutive=Director
|Employees=400
|Budget=$16.5 million (Annual budget as of 2002, exact current figures not publicly available)
|Website=
|Services=Animal Disease Diagnostics; Vaccine Research; Training for Veterinary Professionals
|ParentOrganization=Department of Homeland Security; U.S. Department of Agriculture
|CreationLegislation=
|Regulations=
|HeadquartersLocation=41.176512, -72.199276
|HeadquartersAddress=Plum Island, Orient Point, NY 11957
}}
'''Plum Island Animal Disease Center''' ('''PIADC''') is a United States federal research facility dedicated to the study of [[foreign animal disease]]s of [[livestock]]. It is a national laboratory of the [[United States Department of Homeland Security|Department of Homeland Security]] (DHS) [[DHS Directorate for Science and Technology|Directorate for Science and Technology]] (S&T), and operates as a partnership with the [[United States Department of Agriculture|U.S. Department of Agriculture]] (USDA).<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=PIADC Fact Sheet|url=https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/piadc_fact_sheet.pdf|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=[[Department of Homeland Security]]}}</ref> The facility's director is Larry Barrett.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-05-07|title=Inside the mysterious Plum Island Animal Disease Center|url=https://www.nbc4i.com/news/u-s-world/inside-the-mysterious-plum-island-animal-disease-center/|access-date=2021-02-09|website=NBC4 WCMH-TV|language=en-US}}</ref>

Isolated on [[Plum Island (New York)|Plum Island]] off the eastern tip of [[Long Island]], [[New York (state)|New York]], the center has been tasked with protecting America's [[livestock]] from animal diseases since 1954. It is the only facility in the country authorized to work with live [[foot-and-mouth disease]] (FMD) samples, and specializes in the study of FMD and [[African swine fever virus|African swine fever]].<ref name="plum-island-web-site" /> At the height of the [[Cold War]], study of [[biological weapons]] for use against livestock was conducted at the site, ending in 1969 when President [[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] [[Statement on Chemical and Biological Defense Policies and Programs|declared an end]] to the [[United States biological weapons program|United States' offensive bioweapons program]]. Today the facility maintains laboratories up to [[Biosafety level#Biosafety level 3|biosafety level 3]], and has remained controversial as a result of its high-risk work and proximity to the [[New York metropolitan area]].

The facility is slated for closure in 2024{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}, with work moving to the [[National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility]] under construction in [[Manhattan, Kansas]].

==Location==
{{See also|Plum Island (New York)}}
The center is located on [[Plum Island (New York)|Plum Island]] near the northeast coast of [[Long Island]] in [[New York (state)|New York]] state. During the [[Spanish–American War]], the island was purchased by the government for the construction of [[Fort Terry]], which was later deactivated after [[World War II]] and then reactivated in 1952 for the [[Chemical Corps (United States Army)|Army Chemical Corps]]. The center comprises 70 buildings (many of them dilapidated) on {{Convert|840|acres|km2}}.<ref name="wallstjournal">{{cite news |title= Bioterrorism Fears Revive Waning Interest In Agricultural Disease Lab on Plum Island |work=The Wall Street Journal|date=2002-01-08|url=http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/bioter/bioterrorismplumisland.html|access-date=2008-05-17}}</ref><ref name="nytimes1999">{{cite news |title=Long Island Lab May Do Studies Of Bioterrorism |work=The New York Times |date=1999-09-22 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D02EED7163FF931A1575AC0A96F958260&sec=&spon=|access-date=2008-05-18|first=Judith |last=Miller}}</ref> Plum Island has its own [[fire department]], [[power plant]], [[water treatment]] plant, and security.<ref name="wallstjournal" /><ref name="nytimes1999" /> Any wild mammal seen on the island is killed to prevent the possible transmission of foot-and-mouth disease.<ref name="wallstjournal" /> However, as Plum Island was named an [[important bird area]] by the New York [[Audubon Society]], it has attracted different birds. Plum Island has placed [[osprey]] nests and [[bluebird]] boxes throughout the island. {{as of|2008}}, new [[kestrel]] houses were planned to be added.<ref name="dhssite">{{cite news |title=About Plum Island Animal Disease Center |publisher=Department of Homeland Security |date=2008-12-28 |url=https://www.dhs.gov/xres/labs/editorial_0902.shtm |access-date=2008-08-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080801090352/http://www.dhs.gov/xres/labs/editorial_0902.shtm |archive-date=2008-08-01 }}</ref>

==History==
In response to disease outbreaks in Mexico and Canada in 1954, the [[United States Army|US Army]] gave the island to the [[United States Department of Agriculture|Agriculture Department]] to establish a research center dedicated to the study of [[foot-and-mouth disease]] in cattle.<ref name="wallstjournal"/>

The island was opened to news media for the first time in 1992.<ref name="nytimes1999"/> In 1995, the Department of Agriculture was issued a $111,000 fine for storing [[Dangerous goods|hazardous chemicals]] on the island.<ref name="nytimes1999"/>

Local [[Long Island]] activists prevented the center from expanding to include diseases that affect humans in 2000, which would require a [[Biosafety Level 4]] designation; in 2002, the [[US Congress]] again considered the plan.<ref name="wallstjournal"/>

The ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'' reported in January 2002 that many [[scientist]]s and government officials wanted the lab to close, believing that the threat of foot-and-mouth disease was so remote that the center did not merit its $16.5 million annual budget.<ref name="wallstjournal"/> In 2002, the Plum Island Animal Disease Center was transferred from the [[United States Department of Agriculture]] to the [[United States Department of Homeland Security]].{{cn|date=July 2022}}

In 2003, a [[whistleblower]] who voiced concerns about safety at the facility was fired by the contractor he worked for. He had discussed his concerns with aides to Senator [[Hillary Clinton]].<ref name="nytimes2004outbreak">{{cite news | title = Plum Island Reports Disease Outbreak  | newspaper = The New York Times | date = 2004-08-22 | url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01E1D6113FF931A1575BC0A9629C8B63 | access-date = 2008-05-17 | first=John| last=Rather}}</ref> A [[National Labor Relations Board]] judge found that the contractor, North Fork Services, had discriminated against the whistleblower.<ref name="nytimes2004outbreak"/>

In 2020, the Department of Homeland Security plan to put the island up for auction after the conclusion of laboratory activities in 2023 was blocked by Congress. As part of ongoing [[COVID-19 pandemic]] relief legislation, Senator [[Chuck Schumer]] of New York negotiated a provision in the [[CARES Act]] that protects the island from being sold. Environmentalists had opposed the sale of the island because of its extensive wildlife habitats. After the final draft of the legislation was announced, Schumer said “It would have been a grave mistake to sell and develop Plum Island's 840-acres of habitat, which is home to many endangered species, that's why preventing the unnecessary sale requirement was a top priority of these negotiations."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bonfiglio|first=Briana|date=2020-12-22|title=Congress Blocks Sale of Plum Island in Covid-19 Relief Bill|url=https://www.longislandpress.com/2020/12/22/u-s-congress-blocks-sale-of-plum-island-in-budget-bill/|access-date=2021-02-09|website=LI Press|language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Replacement facility ===
{{See also|National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility}}
[[File:NBAF Front.jpg|thumb|245x245px|The NBAF on the campus of [[Kansas State University]] in [[Manhattan, Kansas]] (2020)]]

On September 11, 2005, DHS announced that the Plum Island Animal Disease Research Center will be replaced by a new federal facility. The location of the new high-security animal disease lab, called the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF), is being built in [[Manhattan, Kansas]].<ref>{{cite web|title=DHS: DHS Issues Record of Decision on Proposed National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility|url=https://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1232132671186.shtm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706233031/http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1232132671186.shtm|archive-date=2011-07-06|access-date=2011-08-10|publisher=Dhs.gov}}</ref><ref name="Shutting Down – Bloomberg">{{cite news |last1=Muller |first1=Madison |title=A Mysterious Lab Is Shutting Down. It's the End of an Era for Biosecurity. |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-09-08/plum-island-why-area-51-of-the-east-coast-is-moving-to-kansas |access-date=20 September 2023 |work=[[Bloomberg News]] |date=8 September 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

The plan was controversial almost immediately when it was unveiled, following a cost assessment by DHS and prime contractor [[Booz Allen Hamilton]] in which the agency determined that the cost of maintaining or moving the facility would be comparable.<ref name="Shutting Down – Bloomberg"/>

Those conclusions, as well as claims about the safety of the facility proposed were called into question several times, first by a 2007 [[Government Accountability Office]] study, which stated that claims by DHS that the work on [[foot and mouth disease]] performed on Plum Island can be performed "as safely on the mainland" is "not supported" by evidence.<ref>{{cite web|date=2009-07-31|title=Study spurs request to not phase out Plum Island|url=http://www.newsday.com/long-island/study-spurs-request-to-not-phase-out-plum-island-1.1341825|access-date=2011-08-10|publisher=Newsday.com}}</ref>

In 2012, DHS completed a risk assessment of the Kansas site that called the proposed facility "safe and secure".<ref>{{cite web|title=DHS Issues Updated Site-Specific Risk Assessment For Proposed National Bio And Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF)|url=https://www.dhs.gov/news/2012/03/02/dhs-issues-updated-site-specific-risk-assessment-proposed-national-bio-and-agro|work=dhs.gov|date=2 March 2012}}</ref> In response, a 2012 review of the risk assessment by the [[National Research Council (United States)|National Research Council]] called it "seriously flawed".<ref>{{cite web|title=Officials press feds for NBAF|url=http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2012/jun/15/officials-press-feds-nbaf/|work=LJWorld.com}}</ref>

Despite controversy, the new facility is nearing completion, and transfer of laboratory contents from Plum Island to NBAF is to be complete by 2023. The USDA has named former director of Canada's Centers for Animal Disease Alfonso Clavijo as the director of the new facility.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Avant |first1=Sandra |title=Alfonso Clavijo Named Director Of USDA National Bio And Agrio-Defense Facility : USDA ARS |url=https://www.ars.usda.gov/news-events/news/research-news/2019/dr-alfonso-clavijo-named-director-of-usda-national-bio-and-agrio-defense-facility/ |access-date=20 September 2023 |work=[[USDA]] |date=October 1, 2019}}</ref>

==Activities==
PIADC's mission can be grouped into three main categories: diagnosis, research, and education.{{Citation needed|date=May 2008}}

Since 1971, PIADC has been educating [[veterinarian]]s in foreign animal diseases. The center hosts several Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic schools each year to train federal and state veterinarians and laboratory diagnostic staff, military veterinarians and [[veterinary school]] faculty.{{cn|date=July 2022}}

At PIADC, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) work together; DHS' Targeted Advanced Development unit partners with USDA, academia and industry scientists to deliver vaccines and antivirals to the USDA for licensure and inclusion in the USDA National Veterinary Vaccine Stockpile.{{Citation needed|date=May 2008}}

USDA [[Agricultural Research Service]] (ARS) performs basic and applied research to better formulate countermeasures against foreign animal diseases, including strategies for prevention, control and recovery. ARS focuses on developing faster-acting vaccines and antivirals to be used during outbreaks to limit or stop transmission. Antivirals prevent infection while vaccine immunity develops. The principal diseases studied are [[foot-and-mouth disease]], [[classical swine fever]], and [[vesicular stomatitis virus]].{{cn|date=August 2022}}

USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS) operates the Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, an internationally recognized{{Citation needed|date=May 2008}} facility performing [[diagnostic testing]] of samples collected from U.S. livestock. APHIS also tests animals and animal products being imported into the U.S. APHIS maintains the North American Foot-and-Mouth Disease Vaccine Bank at PIADC and hosts the Foreign Animal Disease Diagnosticians training program, offering several classes per year to train [[veterinarian]]s to recognize foreign animal diseases.{{cn|date=July 2022}}

Research on biological weapons at PIADC ceased when the United States [[Statement on Chemical and Biological Defense Policies and Programs|Biological Warfare program was ended]] in 1969 by President [[Richard Nixon]].<ref name="cella" />

===Biological weapons research===
The original anti-animal biological weapons mission was "to establish and pursue a program of [[research and development]] of certain anti-animal (BW) agents".<ref name="wheelis">Wheelis, Mark, et al. ''Deadly Cultures: Biological Weapons Since 1945'', ([https://books.google.com/books?id=Usskez9NfEYC&pg=PA225 Google Books]), Harvard University Press, 2006 pp. 225–228, ({{ISBN|0674016998}}).</ref> By August 1954 animals occupied holding areas at Plum Island and research was ongoing within Building 257.<ref name="carroll" /> The USDA facility, known as the Plum Island Animal Disease Center, continued work on biological warfare research until the [[Statement on Chemical and Biological Defense Policies and Programs|U.S. program was ended]] by [[Richard Nixon]] in 1969.<ref name="cella" /> The bio-weapons research at [[Building 257]] and Fort Terry was shrouded in aura of mystery and secrecy.<ref name="cnn">
Dunn, Adam. "[http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/books/04/02/lab.257/index.html The mysterious lab off New York's shore]", ''[[CNN.com]]'', April 2, 2004, accessed January 10, 2009.
</ref><ref name="lambert">Lambert, Bruce. "[https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/17/nyregion/closely-guarded-secrets-some-islands-you-can-t-get-to-visit.html Closely Guarded Secrets: Some Islands You Can't Get to Visit]", ''[[The New York Times]]'', May 17, 1998, accessed January 10, 2009.</ref> The existence of biological warfare experiments on Plum Island during the [[Cold War]] era was denied for decades by the U.S. government. In 1993 ''[[Newsday]]'' unearthed documents proving otherwise and in 1994, Russian scientists inspected the Plum Island research facility to verify that these experiments had indeed ended.<ref name="lambert" />

==Diseases studied and outbreaks==
As a diagnostic facility, PIADC scientists study more than 40 [[foreign animal disease]]s, including [[classical swine fever]] and [[African swine fever]].<ref name="wallstjournal"/><ref name="Shutting Down – Bloomberg"/> PIADC runs about 30,000 diagnostic tests each year. PIADC operates [[Biosafety Level]] 3 Agriculture (BSL-3Ag), BSL-3 and BSL-2 laboratory facilities. The facility's research program includes developing diagnostic tools and biologicals for foot-and-mouth disease and other diseases of livestock.<ref name="wallstjournal"/>

Because federal law stipulates that live foot-and-mouth disease virus cannot be studied on the [[Contiguous United States|mainland]], PIADC is unique in that it is currently the only laboratory in the U.S. equipped with research facilities that permit the study of [[foot-and-mouth disease]].<ref>U.S. General Accounting Office. "High-Containment Biosafety Laboratories: DHS Lacks Evidence to Conclude That Foot-and-Mouth Disease Research Can Be Done Safely on the U.S. Mainland". GAO-08-821T. 22 May 2008. p. 1.</ref>

Foot-and-mouth disease is extremely [[Contagious disease|contagious]] among [[Cloven hoof|cloven-hooved]] animals, and people who have come in contact with it can carry it to animals.<ref name="nytimes2004outbreak"/> Accidental outbreaks of the virus have caused catastrophic livestock and economic losses in many countries throughout the world.

Foot-and-mouth disease was eradicated from the U.S. in 1929 (with the exception of the stocks within the Plum Island center)<ref name="wallstjournal" /> but is currently endemic to many parts of the world.

In 2012, two researchers at the facility, John Neilan and Michael Puckette, developed the first Foot-and-mouth disease vaccine which does not require live virus cultures in the manufacturing process, allowing vaccine development to occur safely and legally on U.S. mainland for the first time.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-06-10|title=Snapshot: New Patent-Pending Process for FMD Vaccine|url=https://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/news/2020/06/10/snapshot-new-patent-pending-process-fmd-vaccine|access-date=2021-02-09|website=Department of Homeland Security|language=en}}</ref>

=== Laboratory accidents ===
Plum Island has experienced outbreaks of its own, including one in 1978 in which foot-and-mouth disease was released to animals outside the center, and two incidents in 2004 in which the disease was released within the center.<ref name="nytimes2004outbreak" /><ref name="Shutting Down – Bloomberg"/>

In response to the two 2004 incidents, New York Senator [[Hillary Clinton]] and Congressman [[Tim Bishop]] wrote a letter to the Department of Homeland Security regarding their concerns about the center's safety: "We urge you to immediately investigate these alarming breaches at the highest levels, and to keep us apprised of all developments."<ref name="nytimes2004outbreak"/>

==Historic buildings==
===Building 257===
Building No. 257 at [[Fort Terry]], on [[Plum Island (New York)|Plum Island]] near [[Long Island]], New York, was completed around 1911.<ref name="newsletter2">"[http://www.usaha.org/news/newsletter/USAHA-Newsletter-Oct2003.pdf 1669–2003: A Partial History of Plum Island] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090309171500/http://www.usaha.org/news/newsletter/USAHA-Newsletter-Oct2003.pdf|date=2009-03-09}}", ''United States Animal Health Association Newsletter'', Vol. 30, No. 4, October 2003, pp. 5, 26, accessed January 10, 2009.</ref> The original purpose of the building was to store weapons, such as mines, and the structure was designated the Combined Torpedo Storehouse and Cable Tanks building.<ref name="newsletter2" /> Fort Terry went through a period of activations and deactivations through World War II until the [[Chemical Corps|U.S. Army Chemical Corps]] took over the facility in 1952 for use in anti-animal [[biological warfare]] (BW) research.<ref name="cella">Cella, Alexandra. "[http://dspace.sunyconnect.suny.edu/bitstream/1951/43871/1/LIHJ2004.pdf An Overview of Plum Island: History, Research and Effects on Long Island]", ''Long Island Historical Journal'', Fall 2003/Spring 2004, Vol. 16, Nos. 1 and 2, pp. 176–181 (194–199 in PDF), accessed January 10, 2009.</ref> The Chemical Corps planned a laboratory for the fort, to be housed in Building 257.<ref name="newsletter2" /> The conversion of Fort Terry to a BW facility required the remodeling of Building 257 and other structures.<ref name="cella" />

As work neared completion on the lab and other facilities in the spring of 1954 the mission of Fort Terry changed.<ref name="carroll2">Carroll, Michael C. ''Lab 257: The Disturbing Story of the Government's Secret Plum Island Germ Laboratory'', ([https://books.google.com/books?id=aLyWOYcC3zAC&dq=%22Fort+Terry%22+biological+weapons&pg=PA46 Google Books]), HarperCollins, 2004, pp. 45–48, ({{ISBN|0060011416}}).</ref> Construction was completed on the facilities on May 26, 1954, but the post was transferred to the USDA before the military could utilize the new laboratory facilities.<ref name="newsletter2" /> Fort Terry was officially transferred to the USDA on July 1, 1954, at the time scientists from the [[Bureau of Animal Industry]] were already working in Building 257.<ref name="newsletter2" /> Construction on a new lab facility, known as [[#Building 101|Building 101]], also began about this time but was not completed until September 1956.<ref name="newsletter2" />

A modernization program in 1977 aimed to update both Building 257 and Building 101, but the program was canceled in 1979 because of construction contract irregularities.<ref name="newsletter2" /> Plum Island facilities were essentially unchanged until a new modernization began in 1990.<ref name="newsletter2" /> Two-thirds of the laboratory facilities inside Building 101 were renovated and operations in Building 257 were consolidated into Building 101.<ref name="newsletter2" /> According to a [[United States Department of Homeland Security]] spokesperson in 2004, Building 257 was closed in 1995 and poses no health hazard.<ref name="cnn" />

===Building 101===
The structure is a {{Convert|164000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} T-shaped white building.<ref name=carroll/> It is situated on Plum Island's northwest plateau on a {{convert|10|acre|m2|adj=on}} site where it is buttressed by a steep cliff which leads into the ocean.<ref name=carroll/> To the south-west of the building's site is the old [[Plum Island Light]]house.<ref name=carroll>Carroll, Michael C. ''Lab 257: The Disturbing Story of the Government's Secret Plum Island Germ Laboratory'', ([https://books.google.com/books?id=aLyWOYcC3zAC&pg=PA46 Google Books]), HarperCollins, 2004, pp. 45–48, 60, ({{ISBN|0060011416}}).</ref>

Construction on Plum Island's new laboratory Building 101 began around July 1, 1954, around the same time that the Army's anti-animal [[biological warfare|bio-warfare]] (BW) facilities at [[Fort Terry]] were transferred to the [[U.S. Department of Agriculture]].<ref name=newsletter/> Following the transfer, the facilities on Plum Island became known as the Plum Island Animal Disease Center.<ref name=newsletter/> The USDA's $7.7. million<ref name=carroll/> Building 101 laboratory facility was dedicated on September 26, 1956.<ref name=newsletter/> Prior to the building's opening the area around it was sprayed with chemicals to deter insect or animal life from approaching the facility.<ref name=carroll/> Upon its opening a variety of tests using [[pathogen]]s and [[Vector (epidemiology)|vectors]] were conducted on animals in the building.<ref name=carroll/> Research on biological weapons at PIADC did not cease until [[Statement on Chemical and Biological Defense Policies and Programs|the entire program was canceled]] in 1969 by [[Richard Nixon]].<ref name="cella" />

A modernization program in 1977 aimed to update both Building 101 and another laboratory, [[Building 257]], but the program was canceled in 1979 because of construction contract irregularities.<ref name=newsletter/> PIADC facilities were essentially unchanged until a new modernization began in 1990.<ref name=newsletter/> Two-thirds of the laboratory facilities inside Building 101 were renovated and operations from Building 257 were consolidated into Building 101.<ref name=newsletter/> Building 257 was closed, and a major expansion, known as Building 100, was completed on Building 101 in 1995.<ref name=newsletter>"[http://www.usaha.org/news/newsletter/USAHA-Newsletter-Oct2003.pdf 1669–2003: A Partial History of Plum Island] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090309171500/http://www.usaha.org/news/newsletter/USAHA-Newsletter-Oct2003.pdf |date=2009-03-09 }}", ''United States Animal Health Association Newsletter'', Vol. 30, No. 4, October 2003, pp. 5, 26, accessed January 10, 2009.</ref> According to the [[Department of Homeland Security]] (DHS), Building 257 currently poses no health hazard.<ref name=cnn/>

==Controversy==
=== Conspiracy theories ===
Prolific but unfounded [[Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]] have alleged that [[Lyme disease]], first documented in nearby [[Lyme, Connecticut]], was a biological weapon that originated in the Plum Island laboratory.<ref name="Telford-wapo">{{cite news|last1=Telford|first1=Sam|date=11 August 2019|title=No, Lyme disease is not an escaped military bioweapon, despite what conspiracy theorists say|language=en|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/no-lyme-diease-is-not-an-escaped-military-bioweapon-despite-what-conspiracy-theorists-say/2019/08/09/5bbd85fa-afe4-11e9-8e77-03b30bc29f64_story.html|access-date=10 August 2020}}</ref> A discredited 2004 book entitled ''Lab 257: The Disturbing Story of the Government's Secret Plum Island Germ Laboratory'' fueled the conspiracy theories.<ref name="cnn" /><ref name="kirby">Kirby, Reid. "[http://www.wood.army.mil/chmdsd/pdfs/Jan-June%202005/BookReviews.pdf Book Reviews] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090309171459/http://www.wood.army.mil/chmdsd/pdfs/Jan-June%202005/BookReviews.pdf|date=2009-03-09}}", ''Army Chemical Review'', January–June 2005, accessed January 10, 2009.</ref> Archived specimens show that Lyme disease was endemic well before the establishment of Plum Island laboratory.<ref name="Telford-wapo" /> Additionally, Lyme disease was never a topic of research at Plum Island, according to the US Department of Homeland Security and Department of Agriculture.<ref name="plum-island-web-site">{{cite web|date=6 July 2009|title=Plum Island Animal Disease Center|url=https://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/plum-island-animal-disease-center|access-date=10 August 2020|website=Department of Homeland Security|language=en}}</ref><ref name="cnn" />

On July 12, 2008, a creature dubbed the [[Montauk Monster]] washed ashore at Ditch Plains Beach near the business district of [[Montauk, New York]]. The creature, a [[quadruped]] of indeterminate size, was dead when discovered, and was assumed by some to have come from Plum Island as a result of the currents and proximity to the mainland. [[Paleozoology|Palaeozoologist]] [[Darren Naish]] studied the photograph and concluded from visible [[dentition]] and the front paws that the creature may have been a [[raccoon]].<ref name="Naish">{{cite web |url=http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2008/08/the_montauk_monster.php |title=What was the Montauk monster? : Tetrapod Zoology |publisher=Scienceblogs.com |date=2008-08-04 |access-date=2009-07-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120507175716/http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2008/08/the_montauk_monster.php |archive-date=2012-05-07 }}</ref> This was also the opinion of Larry Penny, the [[East Hampton (town), New York|East Hampton]] Natural Resources Director.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indyeastend.com/PicPaperBody.lasso?-token.issue=2008-07-23&-token.page=10 |title=The Hound of Bonacville |publisher=Indyeastend.com – The Independent |date=2008-07-23 |access-date=2009-06-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722114350/http://www.indyeastend.com/PicPaperBody.lasso?-token.issue=2008-07-23&-token.page=10 |archive-date=July 22, 2012 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

=== Terrorism ===
When American educated Pakistani neuroscientist [[Aafia Siddiqui]], a suspected [[al-Qaeda]] member, was captured in Afghanistan in July 2008, she had in her handbag handwritten notes referring to a "[[mass casualty]] attack" that listed various U.S. locations, including the Plum Island Animal Disease Center.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/nyregion/03indict.html|title=Indictment Hints of Plan to Attack Landmarks|last=Weiser|first=Benjamin|date=September 2, 2008|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=April 25, 2015}}</ref> In February 2010, she was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and attempting to kill U.S. servicemembers and FBI agents who sought to interrogate her.

== In popular culture ==
* Plum Island and PIADC are the subject of a murder mystery novel, ''[[Plum Island (novel)|Plum Island]]'', by [[Nelson DeMille]]. DeMille has said, "How could [[anthrax]] not be studied there? Every animal has it." While addressing popular culture fears of a germ warfare lab at Plum Island, overall, the facility is presented as doing the job described by the Federal Government—research into animal diseases that would either devastate our national livestock or jump to humans and devastate us. The novel portrays the investigation into the murder of two Plum Island scientists. The motive, initially thought to be germs for terrorists or germs for a biotech company, is really the search for the lost treasure of [[Captain Kidd]], who sailed the waters around [[Long Island]] prior to his capture. Kidd's [[treasure]] has never been found.
* Plum Island is also referred to in the 1991 psychological thriller ''[[The Silence of the Lambs (film)|The Silence of the Lambs]]'', when the character of [[Hannibal Lecter]] is offered a transfer to a different psychiatric institution, as well as the promise of annual week-long supervised furlough to Plum Island, in exchange for his assistance in helping the FBI locate the whereabouts of the missing daughter of a prominent US Senator. It is later revealed in the film that the offer is bogus in the first place, used only as a ruse to elicit Lecter's cooperation.
* The Plum Island facility served as the inspiration for the Mount Dragon research facility in the 1996 techno-thriller ''[[Mount Dragon]]'', written by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.
* The testing facility at Plum Island is the subject of a novel, ''The Poison Plum'', by author [[Les Roberts (mystery novel writer)|Les Roberts]].<ref name="poisonplum">{{cite book|last=Roberts|first=Les|url=http://poisonplum.com/|title=The Poison Plum|publisher=Les Roberts|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213221433/http://poisonplum.com/|archive-date=2007-12-13}}</ref>
* Plum Island and the facility there figure prominently in the 2014 horror novel, ''The Montauk Monster'', by Hunter Shea, in which a bizarre carcass found on a beach in 2008 is an early version of vicious creatures now terrifying the Montauk community.
* The Plum Island facility is mentioned in the television show ''[[Emergence (TV series)|Emergence]]'' as the takeoff point for a flight that crashes in Southold, New York. In reality, this would be impossible, as there are no airstrips on Plum Island.

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
==Further reading==
* [https://digital.library.unt.edu/permalink/meta-dc-1577:1 ''The Plum Island Animal Disease Laboratory''] (1956)
* U.S. General Accounting Office. (2003). ''Combating bioterrorism: actions needed to improve security at Plum Island Animal Disease Center''. Washington, D.C.: Author.
* U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2005). ''Plum Island Animal Disease Center: DHS and USDA are successfully coordinating current work, but long-term plans are being assessed: report to congressional committees''. Washington, D.C.: Author.
* U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2007). ''Plum Island Animal Disease Center: DHS has made significant progress implementing security recommendations, but several recommendations remain open''. Washington, D.C.: Author.
* U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2008). ''High-containment biosafety laboratories: DHS lacks evidence to conclude that foot-and-mouth disease research can be done safely on the U.S. mainland: testimony before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives''. Washington, D.C.: Author.
* U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2009). ''Biological research: observations on DHS's analyses concerning whether FMD research can be done as safely on the mainland as on Plum Island: report to congressional committees''. Washington, D.C.: Author.
* U.S. House of Representatives. (2008). ''Germs, viruses, and secrets: government plans to move exotic disease research to the mainland United States: hearing before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives, one hundred tenth congress, second session, May 22, 2008''. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.

==External links==
* [https://www.dhs.gov/files/labs/editorial_0901.shtm Official website]
* [http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.htm?modecode=19400000 Plum Island Animal Disease Center] | USDA
* {{Skeptoid | id=4257| number= 257| title= The Secret of Plum Island| date=May 10, 2011 }}

{{U.S. biological defense|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:1954 establishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Animal disease control]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1954]]
[[Category:Plum Island (New York)]]
[[Category:United States Department of Agriculture]]
[[Category:United States Department of Homeland Security]]
[[Category:United States biological weapons program]]