Archived specimens show that Lyme disease was endemic well before the establishment of Plum Island laboratory. After all, the Plum Island agreement between the Army and the USDA allowed the Army to borrow the island from the USDA when necessary and in the national interest." The number of building “257” is a metonym for the entire site in 2004 when Michael Carroll, an attorney, published Lab 257: The Disturbing Story of the Government’s Secret Plum Island Germ Laboratory. [3] Work was conducted through gloveboxes, steel, windowed boxes outfitted with glove inserts for experiments inside the contained box. These include chronic schizophrenia, psychosis, severe osteoarthritis, lupus, bladder problems, bipolar delusions, vertigo, encephalitis, infection of the brain stem and many others. This severely debilitating syndrome was given the name Lyme disease. [1] Fort Terry went through a period of activations and deactivations through World War II until the U.S. Army Chemical Corps took over the facility in 1952 for use in anti-animal biological warfare (BW) research. It “suddenly surfaced” 10 miles from Plum Island “in Old Lyme, Connecticut in 1975.” Carroll cites years of experimentation with ticks on Plum Island and the possibility of an accidental or purposeful release. M The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced that the island was slated for permanent closure. As time went on, other subsidiary diseases were discovered to go hand in hand with Lyme. tags: Lab 257, Plum Island,animal disease research, USDA, West Nile virus, Lyme disease, Dutch duck plague After the recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease in … A more recent theory is that Lyme disease escaped from Plum Island, which may be the most plausible conspiracy theory yet. “Lab 257” also maintains that there is a link between the Plum Island center and the emergence of Lyme disease. Known as the “beef belt,” this swath of the Midwest contains huge herds of livestock. Richard Perry/The New York Times Overlooking Orient Point … “Vigorous, well-planned, large-scale [biological warfare] test, with results to the secretary of defense. [4], The original anti-animal BW mission was "to establish and pursue a program of research and development of certain anti-animal (BW) agents". [3] The USDA facility, known as the Plum Island Animal Disease Center, continued work on biological warfare research until the U.S. program was ended by Richard Nixon in 1969. The samples dated from the late 1940s to the early 1950s—the timeframe in which Erich Traub was infecting ticks on Plum Island. [7] Additionally, Lyme disease was never a topic of research at Plum Island, according to the US Department of Homeland Security and Department of Agriculture. [1] The original purpose of the building was to store weapons, such as mines, and the structure was designated the Combined Torpedo Storehouse and Cable Tanks building. Plum Island is only about 3 miles log and located a few miles away from the main land. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Traub regularly experimented with injecting dangerous pathogens into insects. 257 at Fort Terry, on Plum Island near Long Island, New York, was completed around 1911. ( Log Out /  Dusty files labeled “Tick Research” in the National Archives revealed this quote: In November 1957, the Joint Chiefs also advised that “‘research on anti-animal agent-munition combinations should continue, as well as field testing of anti-food agent munition combinations’” Traub was the “father” of the establishment of a bio-warfare center on Plum Island, says “Lab 257,” with the same mission Insel Riems had – going after Soviet livestock now with the Cold War having begun. Mutated corpses, hideous monsters, terrifying germ leaks, secret experiments? Lab 257 will change forever our current understanding of Plum Island - - a place that is, in the words of one insider, "a biological Three Mile Island." [4][6] The existence of biological warfare experiments on Plum Island was denied for several decades by the U.S. government. Additionally, Lyme disease was never a topic of research at Plum Island, according to the U… It is about 85 miles from New York … The 840-acre island sits unlabeled on most maps for good reason. But its victims know differently. Conspiracy Theory With Jesse Ventura, (Plum Island) - … "Plum Island and Lab 257, as it was designed by the army, was not specifically geared towards germ warfare against people, but against food," Carroll stated. Traub died in Germany at the age of 78. Discredited 2004 book entitled Lab 257: the Disturbing Story of the disease... Fill in your details below or click an icon to Log in: You are using... Body—Had been found by workers on the world ’ s website has information debunking Plum! Recently announced that the Island inability to focus and, in one town in rural.! Swath of the US Government ’ s Animal disease Center on Plum Island and research was ongoing within Building.. 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