Lab 257: the Disturbing Story of the Government's Secret Plum Island Germ Laboratory

Science News, April 17, 2004

LAB 257: The Disturbing Story of the Government's Secret Plum Island Germ Laboratory MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER CARROLL

Most maps don't feature Plum Island, located off the north shore of Long island. This is because the 850-acre island was the exclusive domain of the U.S. Department of Agriculture for nearly 50 years---until the Department of Homeland Security took it over. Why would the Department of Homeland Security be interested in a USDA research outpost? AS Carroll reports, it's because this facility, originally a livestock-disease lab, is probably the largest germ warfare-research lab in the world. In this in-depth, if sometimes sensationalized report, Carroll asserts links between Plum Island and initial outbreaks of Lyme disease and West Nile virus in the United States. He suggests that these pathogens escaped from the facility during a period of physical deterioration of the premises and extreme carelessness by its administration. Drawing on scores of interviews and recently declassified documents, Carroll charts the history of Plum Island since its inception after World War II. He sounds an alarm about dangerous pathogens on the island that could escape in the future. Morrow, 2004, 289 p., b&w plates, hardcover, $24.95.