Plum Island | Case File 213

In May of 2008 the U.S. Congress Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Energy and Commerce met to discuss the proliferation of bio-containment labs. At the time, the Department of Homeland Security was proposing the shutdown of a facility isolated on an island off the East Coast of the U.S. and transfer of its operations to the mainland. This specific bio-research facility had been at the center of the effort to combat the pathogen known as foot and mouth disease. Foot and mouth disease, a highly contagious disease caused by a virus that can severely affect...