Plum Island Animal Disease Centre: Long Island’s Link to Lyme Disease and Biological Warfare

Despite the efforts of prominent figures to suppress contentious speculation, the Plum Island Animal Disease Centre (PIADC) has remained a source of international intrigue since its establishment in 1954. This restricted government facility is located just a few miles off the coast of Long Island, New York, and spans 843 acres, although the heavily forested land mass is not always depicted on the average map. Regularly serving as the background of science fiction and murder mystery novels, the speculation surrounding this isolated island is warranted.

Operations occurring at said site, which ostensibly acts as a research laboratory primarily for foot-and-mouth disease, may hold more severe consequences should they be compromised than publicly revealed. Especially since officials continuously imply that the site is a particularly vulnerable target for terrorism. My forthcoming analysis will show the revolutionary role that Plum Island played in American national security, specifically through its research and development of biological warfare, by providing an over-arching military and political history, introducing key players in the etiological formation of the facility, as well as touching on current topics of speculation concerning the infamous Animal Disease Centre.

In the first section, I will provide the political and military history of Plum Island leading up to the establishment of PIADC and its original purpose, as well as its recent transference of control from the USDA to Homeland Security. Secondly, I will explain the PIADC's etiological relationship to known Nazi scientist Erich Traub, often considered to be a founding father of the facility. Thirdly, I will explain popular speculations surrounding the top-secret biological experiments conducted there, including plausible links regarding the origin of Lyme disease. Lastly, I will illustrate how PIADC differs from other restricted federal zones, in the tales of ordinary citizens that have banded together to influence legislation concerning this 'blank spot on the map' which lies in their backyard.

Military and Political History and Purpose of Plum Island

By 1901, Plum Island was entirely under the jurisdiction of the US War Department, and by 1914 it had become a fully operational army base known as Fort Terry (Cella, 2004, p.177). Fort Terry began as 150 acres of farmland purchased by the US War Department in 1897, playing a prominent role as a naval base during the Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II as an army training camp (Cella, 2004, p. 178). In 1952, control of Fort Terry was transferred to the US Army Chemical Corps which began developing an “animal research lab” (Cella, 2004, p.178) consisting of: “labs, animal houses, administration buildings, communication buildings, a hospital and fire station, a motor pool, a dock, warehousing, staff quarters, a commissary, cafeteria and guardhouses” (Van Courtland Moon, 2006, p. 225).

Those structures are surrounded by a “dense jungle” of woodlands, complete with “industrial grade poison ivy”, and are invisible from the shoreline (Carroll, 2004, p. xix). Fort Terry was constructed for the purpose of conducting research regarding foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), a highly contagious virus that had caused an epidemic among Canadian and Mexican livestock in previous years (Cella, 2004, p. 178). Researching FMD extensively perhaps seems reasonable in this context, but the true nature of and motivations behind said experimentation was undisclosed to the public, and remained undisclosed until contemporary investigations revealed newly declassified documents via the Freedom of Information Act. 

Biological Weapons Research

In 1945, the chairman of the US Biological Warfare Committee submitted his report which summarized the World War II biological weapons program to the Secretary of War, concluding that it was “essential to national security” (Van Courtland Moon, 2006, p. 10). Later, in the context of the Cold War, the Operations Research Office of the US Army determined that anti-animal pathogenic agents could be utilized as an exemplary offensive tactic, should national security ever be threatened. Shortly thereafter, the Air Force and the Military Intelligence Division echoed this need for an offensive biological warfare program (Van Courtland Moon, 2006, p. 10), to counter the similar programs already existing in the USSR.

In 1952, the Army Chemical Corp offered Fort Terry as a potential site for the new Animal Disease Laboratory before it had even been activated. Fort Terry was a seamless choice, as the pre-existing infrastructure and utilities coincided with the USDA's plans to build PIADC almost too coincidentally, as well as for its geographical isolation. An off-shore location circumvents the federal statute banning experimentation concerning certain highly infectious diseases within the continental US, several of which are harboured within Plum Island laboratories and refrigerators to this day (Millet, 2006, p. 224). 

The USDA officially took control of Fort Terry in 1954, stating that its mission was “to establish and pursue a program of research and development of certain anti-animal agents” (Millet, 2006, p. 225). These anti-animal agents would eventually become classified by the Geneva Protocal as weapons of mass destruction (van Courtland Moon, 2006, p. 14), since they could potentially eradicate a nation's entire livestock industry, which would result in great economic loss as well as weakened food security.  In1959, the Eisenhower administration declared at the 412th meeting of the National Security Counsel that their top priority was “to make sure that we have sufficient chemical and biological weapons to retaliate if the enemy used it on us”(Van Courtland Moon, 2006, p. 13).

Plum Island Site Develops Biological Weapons

According to Millet, previously sealed documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act indicate that “the US anti-animal [biological weapons] program featured at least one dedicated facility and the development of four agents and a number of delivery systems” (2006, p. 224). Much of the documentation was missing or remains classified. Furthermore, a 1957 Airforce historical study also liberated by the Freedom of Information Act indicated that “two weapon systems had been successfully tested for use with anti-animal agents” (Millet, 2006, p. 227). The USDA was responsible for operating and overseeing PIADC up until 2003 when it was transferred to the domain of the Department of Homeland Security, in compliance with the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (GOA, 2005), which was presumably enacted as a reaction to the security scares which followed 9/11.

In fact, the USDA describes the Foreign Animal Disease Research Unit at PIADC as “the primary laboratory... responsible for research on foreign animal diseases (FAD) of livestock, such as foot-and-mouth disease, classical swine fever, African swine fever and vesicular stomatitis, diseases that could be accidentally or deliberately introduced into the United States in acts of agro-terrorism” (USDA, n.d.). So, the USDA has explicitly labelled the “animal disease centre” as an attractive target for terrorist activity.

Of course, PIADC would not be a 'blank spot on the map' (it can not be viewed on physical or online maps) if officials were open about their operations, so mystery still envelops the specifics of their agenda. Plum Island is one of the only American facilities with tangible connections to Cold War era biological warfare research and development, especially considering how much of the early work was overseen by Dr. Erich Traub, internationally renowned Nazi scientist who specializes in the weaponization of animal viruses.

Hiring Nazi Dr. Erich Traub

Nearing the end of World War II, the Soviet Union and the United States raced to recruit German scientists who had presumably been minimal participants in Nazi activities. The US did so under the confidential codename, 'Project PAPERCLIP' (Carroll, 2004, p. 7). Dr. Erich Traub was one of many German scientists that came to America in hopes of escaping interrogation and persecution. He received amnesty and full American citizenship, and was never questioned about his past wartime activities. Traub acted as a consultant during the formation of PIADC, and was offered the job of head scientist at the new laboratory not once, but twice, declining both times.

He specialized in areas concerning biological warfare in Germany and Russia, as chief of the secret Nazi laboratory, Insel Riems and playing a crucial role in the Nazi's “Cancer Research Program”, the cover name for their biological warfare program. He also served as a captain in the German Army, providing expertise on infectious animal diseases and leading veterinary corps into “germ warfare attacks on horses in the Unites States and Romania [during] World War I with a bacteria called glanders” (Carroll, 2004, p. 8). In his American career, Traub reportedly “experimented with over forty lethal viruses on large test animals” (Carroll, 2004, p. 9). In declassified, documented discussions between Traub and CIA operatives early on in his American career, he claimed to have had personally “packaged weaponized foot-and-mouth disease virus, which was dispersed from a Luftwaffe bomber onto cattle and reindeer in occupied Russia” (Carroll, 2004, p. 8).

The information Traub gave from his previous positions in Russian and German laboratories laid the groundwork for the development of the American offensive biological weapons program. He provided the classified information needed to develop Project PAPERCLIP from its infancy in1949 until 1953. So,  when the Animal Disease Centre officially opened in 1954, Traub was respected as one of the facilities founding fathers, with complete disregard of his past Nazi criminal activity. In 1969, the US “unilaterally renounced its offensive biological warfare program”, instead adopting a “defensive” strategy, which does not technically differ in any way from the offensive policy except that they promise to adhere to the “no-first-use” rule, in which biological weapons could only be administered for purposes of retaliation (van Courtland Moon, 2006, p. 15). 

Speculations Surrounding Plum Island

Speculation surrounding Plum Island never cease, ranging from rumours of genetically-modified mutants, to credible sources linking the origin of Lyme Disease back to the Animal Disease Centre. Some claims are more credible or more controversial than others. The infamous Montauk Monster, which washed ashore Montauk, Long Island in 2008 was thought by many locals to be the carcass of a mutant raccoon -turtle hybrid that had escaped from PIADC. Shortly after the spectacle was made, a wildlife biologist identified the decomposing body as that of a raccoon's, but some skeptics remarked on the oddity of the body appearing entirely furless, since hair is one of the last tissues to decompose (Nikell, 2012). 

John Loftus, on the other hand, makes a serious claim against the facility in his novel, The Belarus Secret. Loftus is an attorney who was hired in 1979 by the Office of Special Investigations, a branch of the Justice Department aimed at exposing Nazi war crimes and fugitives. With information gleaned from his spy network, Loftus compiled a book filled with controversial topics, including the origin of Lyme disease. Loftus describes information that he has received about “Nazi germ warfare scientists who came to America... experimented with poison ticks dropped from planes to spread rare diseases... the US tested some of these poison ticks on the Plum Island artillery range... during the 1950's... most of the germ warfare records have been shredded, but there is a top-secret US document confirming that 'clandestine attacks on crops and animals'” occurred in that time (Carroll, 2004, p. 13).

The “Discovery” of Lyme Disease

In addition, a source of Carroll's who worked on the island in the 1950's recalls when a scientist, who they called 'the Nazi scientist', and a few animal handlers released inoculated ticks outdoors (Carroll, 2004, p. 15). Lyme disease was first discovered in a small town near the proximity of Plum Island called Old Lyme, infecting many elders and children abruptly at the same time, which has remained an uncanny medical event (Carroll, 2004, p. 16). Tying the conspiracy together, is Carroll's discovery of three empty USDA file folders in the vault of the National Archives – two titled “TICK RESEARCH” and the other titled “E. TRAUB” (Carroll, 2004, p. 14). 

PIADC asserts on their USDA webpage that research is still conducted “primarily on a single foreign animal disease, foot-and-mouth disease” and that it has remained “top research priority because, according to officials, it poses the greatest threat of introduction because of its virulence, infectivity, and availability. Other research programs have been terminated or are proceeding at a slower pace.”(GOA, 2005). The “other research programs” referred to are diseases “classical swine fever, African swine fever and vesicular stomatitis” (USDA, n.d.). Yet, classical swine fever has been “eradicated from the United States” for decades (CFSPH, 2009, p.1) African swine fever has never been endemic in the US (CFSPH, 2010, p. 1) and vesicular stomatitis only occasionally affects the “southeastern US” (CFSPH, 2008, p. 1).

Even more shockingly is that FMD, the disease which IPADC claims to have focused the gross majority of their time and resources on due to it “pos[ing] the greatest threat” to Americans, has not had a reported outbreak in the US since 1929 (well before the facility was concocted), and has never even been endemic to America (CFSPH, 2007, p. 2). If their experiments are purely research-based as they portray them to be, without much danger involved past infecting some of the livestock on the island with a contagious but otherwise normal virus, then what warrants the facility being labelled a terrorist target? Why are they still receiving, according to the Wall Street Journal, 16.5 million dollars annually to fund studies of diseases that are no longer or never even were a threat to America (Dugan, 2002)? 

Concluding Remarks

Unlike many 'blank spots on the map', the cloak of secrecy surrounding Plum Island Animal Disease Centre is more tangible, as it is more visible – thus, it is more penetrable. Largely due to the island's relatively close proximity to everyday society, the operations that occur at PIADC can be influenced by public pressure. As Michael Carroll (2004) wrote in the preface of his novel Lab 257, Plum Island is situated in “the periphery of the largest population centre in the United States”, with such populated places like the Hampton's only “a mile or two from its shores” (p. xvii). Long Island protesters gathered in 1952 and were able to delay the official opening of the historical Fort Terry, discontent with having a facility which handles highly contagious zoonotic diseases in their backyards (Millet, 2006, p. 225). Public protest was also able to stop the expansion of PIADC's charter in 2000, which would have increased the site's bio-security level to include lethal human-targeting pathogens as well (Dugan, 2002). These examples show that with perseverance and determination, as a community standing together, we can not be ignored, or manipulated, or made blind to what is going on in our own backyards. In a way, this blank spot on the map could really just be a colouring book, waiting for us to work together to fill in the picture. 

SOURCES:

Carrol, M. C. (2004). Lab 257: the disturbing story of the government's secret Plum Island germ laboratory. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

Centre for Food Security and Public Health. (2007, September). Foot and mouth disease. In Centre for Food Security and Public Health. Retrieved March 8, 2014, from http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/Factsheets/pdfs/foot_and_mouth_disease.pdf 

Centre for Food Security and Public Health. (2008, January). Vesicular stomatitis. In Centre for Food Security and Public Health. Retrieved March 8, 2014, from http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/Factsheets/pdfs/vesicular_stomatitis.pdf 

Centre for Food Security and Public Health. (2009, September). Classical swine fever. In Centre for Food Security and Public Health . Retrieved March 8, 2014, from http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/Factsheets/pdfs/classical_swine_fever.pdf 

Centre for Food Security and Public Health. (2010, June). African swine fever. In Centre for Food Security and Public Health . Retrieved March 8, 2014, from http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/Factsheets/pdfs/african_swine_fever.pdf

Cella, A. "An overview of Plum Island: History, research and effects on Long Island." Long Island Historical Journal 16.1-2 (2004): 176-81. Web. 9 Mar. 2014. <https://dspace.sunyconnect.suny.edu/bitstream/handle/1951/43871/LIHJ2004.pdf;jsessionid=8EC6D5C38E56A9664C827FDAB2A71AA2.suny_101?sequence=1>.

Dugan, I. "Bioterrorism fears revive waning interest in agricultural disease lab on Plum Island." Wall Street Journal 8 Jan. 2002. Web. 9 Apr. 2014. <http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/bioter/bioterrorismplumisland.html>. 

GOA, . Plum Island animal disease centre: DHS and USDA are successfully coordinating current work, but long-term plans are being assessed. United States Government Accountability Office, 19 Dec. 2005. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. <http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-132>. 

Kuntz, D. Plum Island is seen in an aerial photo. 2010. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. <http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/cuomo-feds-must-address-plum-island-environmental-secrets-1.6167121>. 

Millett, Piers. "Antianimal biological weapons programs." Deadly cultures: Biological weapons since 1945. Ed. M Dando, L Rozsa, and M Wheelis. N.p.: Harvard University Press, 2006. 224-27. University of Toronto Library Catalogue. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. <http://site.ebrary.com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/lib/utoronto/docDetail.action?docID=10312763>.

Nikell, J. "Montauk monster and the racoon body farm." Skeptical Inquirer 2012. Web. 4 Apr. 2014. <http://www.csicop.org/sb/show/montauk_monster_and_the_raccoon_body_farm/>.

United States Department of Agriculture. (n.d.). In Foreign animal disease research . Retrieved March 5, 2014, from http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.htm?modecode=19-40-35-00 

Van Courtland Moon, John E. "The US biological weapons program." Deadly cultures: Biological weapons since 1945. Ed. M Dando, L Rozsa, and M Wheelis. N.p.: Harvard University Press, 2006. 9-13. University of Toronto Library Catalogue. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. <http://site.ebrary.com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/lib/utoronto/docDetail.action?docID=10312763>.