Biological Research: Observations on DHS's Analyses Concerning Whether Foot and Mouth Disease Research Can be Done as Safely on the Mainland as on Plum Island

Nancy Kingsbury

10/2010 · DIANE Publishing

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Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is the most highly infectious animal disease known: nearly 100% of exposed animals become infected with it. The Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC), on the northern tip of Long Island, NY, is the only facility in the U.S. that studies the live FMD virus. The U.S. Dept. of Ag. (USDA) was responsible for the PIADC from its opening in the 1950s until June 2003, when USDA transferred responsibility for it to the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS). On Jan. 19, 2006, DHS announced that it would construct and operate a new facility. This report reviewed DHS's risk assessment. It specifically assessed the evidence DHS used to conclude that work with FMD can be conducted as safely on the U.S. mainland as on Plum Island, NY.