Government admits accidents at Plum Island biolab

in a letter obtained by the AP. Cohen responded that Plum Island used a contract with a private security firm and relied on an agreement with local police, who were deputized to enforce federal laws on the island. Will Jenkins, Bishop’s spokesman, said Friday that DHS “has been responsive to the concerns raised last year, and Congressman Bishop is pleased with the progress DHS is making regarding security for Plum Island.” The White House said modern safety rules at labs are sufficient to avoid any outbreak, but incidents in Britain have demonstrated that the foot-and-mouth virus can cause remarkable economic havoc - and that the virus can escape from a facility.

An epidemic in 2001 devastated Britain’s livestock industry, as the government slaughtered nearly six million sheep, cows, and pigs. Last year, in a less serious outbreak, Britain’s health and safety agency concluded the virus probably escaped from a site shared by a government research center and a vaccine maker. Other outbreaks have occurred in Taiwan in 1997 and China last year and in 2006. If even a single cow signals an outbreak in the United States, emergency plans permit the government to shut down all exports and movement of livestock. Herds would be quarantined, and a controlled slaughter could be started to stop the disease from spreading.
Infected animals weaken and lose weight. Milk cows do not produce milk. They remain highly infectious, even if they survive the virus.

DHS is convinced it can safely operate the lab on the mainland, saying containment procedures at high-security labs have improved. The livestock industry is divided. Some experts, including the former director at the aging Plum Island lab, say research ought to be kept away from cattle populations — and, ideally placed where the public already has accepted dangerous research. The former director, Dr. Roger Breeze, suggested the facility could be safely located at the Atlanta campus of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Maryland, home of the United States Army Medical Research Institute for infectious diseases. Another possibility, Breeze said, is on Long Island, where there is no commercial livestock industry. That would allow retention of most of the current Plum Island employees. The former head of the Agriculture Department’s Agricultural Research Service said Americans are not prepared for a foot-and-mouth outbreak that has been avoided on the mainland since 1929. “The horrific prospect of exterminating potentially millions of animals is not something this country’s ready for,” said Dr. Floyd Horn. The Agriculture Department ran the Plum Island lab until 2003. It was turned over to DHS because preventing an outbreak is now part of the nation’s biological defense program. Plum Island researchers work on detecting the disease, controlling epidemics using vaccines and drugs, testing imported animals and training professionals. The new facility will add research on diseases that can be transferred from animals to humans. The Plum Island facility is not secure enough to handle that higher-level research. A new facility at Plum Island is technically a possibility. Signs point to a mainland site, however, after the administration spent considerable time and money scouting new locations. Also, there are financial concerns about operating from a location accessible only by ferry or helicopter. DHS said laboratory animals would not be corralled outside the new facility, and they would not come into contact with local livestock. All work with the virus and lab waste would be handled securely and any material leaving would be treated and monitored to ensure it was sterilized. “Containment technology has improved dramatically since foot-and-mouth disease prohibitions were put in place in 1948,” said DHS spokeswoman Amy Kudwa.