Plum Island may refer to:
- Plum Island (Aleutian Islands), Alaska
- Plum Island (Massachusetts), an island along the Atlantic coast of Massachusetts, in northeastern Essex County
- Plum Island, Massachusetts, a village on Plum Island in Massachusetts
- Plum Island (New York), an island off the northeastern corner of Long Island in Long Island Sound, home to the United States Government's Animal Disease Center
- Plum Island Animal Disease Center, on the New York island
- Plum Island Light, on the New York island
- Plum Island (novel), a novel by Long Island author Nelson DeMille, who uses the above animal disease center as one of the settings in his book
- Plum Island (Wisconsin), one of the five islands that make up Washington Township in Door County, Wisconsin
- Plum Island Range Lights, on the Wisconsin island
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Plum Island NY animal disease research center
Located just two miles off the tip of Long Island and six miles from the Connecticut coastline, Plum Island is home to a Bio-Safety Level 4 (BSL-4) research facility. The only comparable government facilities in the country are the United States Army laboratory at Fort Detrick, MD, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Plum Island is specifically engaged in the study of zoonotic diseases. Zoonotic diseases are diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans, like West Nile, like Lyme disease. Like Ebola. The U.S. Department of Agriculture established the research facility there after acquiring the 840-acre island from the military at the end of World War II. The initial charter from Congress mandated the study of animal diseases, particularly foot-and-mouth disease, with an eye toward eradicating these maladies from the nation's livestock. It seemed an ideal location for such an endeavor: prevailing winds, after all, blow out to sea. In 1954, the research took a more aggressive turn, with scientists looking to cook up ways to inflict damage on Soviet livestock. The Cuban government alleges that in the 1960s and 70s, bioweapons developed at Plum were deployed against Cuban agriculture, targeting pork, tobacco and sugar cane. Back in 1999, Floyd P. Horn, administrator of the Agriculture Research Service, persuaded President Clinton to include Plum Island in his expanded bioterrorism program based on the possibility of a biological attack on the nation's agricultural base. Last year the administration of the island's research facilities was transferred from USDA to the Department of Homeland Security. The 200-odd employees do not live on the island; they commute from their homes in Connecticut and Long Island. The facility is only accessible by government ferry, and local sailors who have strayed too close have reported being warned off in no uncertain terms by armed military personnel. The diseases being researched do not live exclusively under glass"there are quite a number of infected live animals for study there. Some of these diseases have an incubation period extending for days. Which means that it is entirely possible for a researcher to be unknowingly infected on a Friday and then spend the weekend cheerfully spreading some hideous plague from the Hamptons to Tribeca. The government claims that there has only been one outbreak on the island"foot-and-mouth in 1978"which they contained by killing all the livestock. They further maintain that there has never been a leak to the mainland. Apparently the first appearance of what we now call Lyme disease a mere 13 miles northeast of the facility falls under the category of coincidence, as does the mysterious and still unexplained appearance of West Nile virus in Long Island and New York City.
Author: mystars1212
Keywords: hoof in mouth animal diseases government department of agriculture west nile lyme disease
Added: November 18, 2008
CALDER RACE COURSE, 2008-11-14, Race 2
Entries: Thoroughbred Race, CALDER RACE COURSE, 2008-11-14, Race 2: (Pgm-Runner-Jockey-Finish) 1A-Imelda Oh (KY), Cruz, M, finished 1; 2-Miracle of Dreams (FL), Dominguez, E, finished 4; 3-Tres Bien Ensemble (FL), Smith, A, finished 5; 4-No Pussycat (FL), Boraco, D, finished 7; 5-Pago Island (FL), Nunez, E, finished 8; 6-Plum Sneaky (FL), Rosado, R, finished 2; 7-Changeinthe Course (FL), Santiago, J, finished 6; 8-Emma's Valentine (FL), Monterrey, Jr., P, finished 3;
Author: cdi
Keywords: horse racing CALDER RACE COURSE
Added: November 15, 2008
Ocean Entry Plume 2
Lava ocean entry plum on the Big Island, Hawaii.
Author: kr8796
Keywords: volcano Hawaii Big Island lava plume explosion eruption
Added: November 10, 2008
Suger Plum Fairy! The Reson to come see Nutcracker
The Suger plum Fairy Dance From Island Dance Academy. For The Nutcracker Ballet Dec 12th and 13th Hilo Hawaii At the Palace Theater 7:00 Pm I hope to see you all there!!
Author: sarahbylr
Keywords: performing arts IDA SugerPlum
Added: November 9, 2008
LESSER YELLOWLEGS NOV 6
Late in the year for MA North Shore.
Author: Aceothy
Keywords: plum island wildlife refuge
Added: November 7, 2008