The Plum Island Story

Plum Island has given rise to some interesting lore. Perhaps it’s the laboratory’s long history or its secluded location. Whatever the reason, conspiracy theorists and fiction writers alike have tried to link the site to germ warfare, anthrax, and even a purported “monster” found earlier this summer on a beach in nearby Montauk, NY.

But reality offers a completely different story. It’s a tale of how the Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC) has protected America’s livestock and agriculture from the threat of foreign animal diseases for more than half a century. The lab—located off the tip of Long Island—serves as the front line of the nation’s defense against diseases that could devastate markets for livestock, meat, and other animal products. At PIADC, the DHS Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) work together on a crucial shared mission.

The center’s primary focus has been helping to prevent foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), which last occurred in the United States in the late 1920s. Research and diagnostic efforts conducted at Plum Island are focused on keeping that disease, and other foreign animal diseases like it, from threatening the multibillion-dollar U.S. livestock industry. In fact, PIADC is the only facility in the nation where live FMD virus can be studied, and its scientists are taking critical steps toward a new vaccine.

“Though the center’s mission may not be as colorful as the fictional pursuits we hear about, its real work is critical to the security of the nation’s agriculture, food supply, and economy,” said PIADC Director Dr. Larry Barrett.

For more than 50 years, scientists at the Plum Island lab have kept an eye on foot-and-mouth disease, which can devastate livestock and markets for animal products.

FMD is a livestock disease that afflicts cloven-hoofed animals such as cows, sheep, pigs, deer, and goats. Though it is not infectious to humans, it is the most contagious disease known. FMD is also endemic to many parts of the world. In 2001, the United Kingdom had an outbreak of the disease that resulted in an economic loss of approximately $8 billion and the slaughter of more than 6.2 million animals.

Dr. John Neilan of the S&T Directorate’s team at Plum Island examines tissue cultures at different magnifications.

FMD is a disease of economic importance because to freely export agricultural products and conduct foreign trade, countries must be considered free of FMD. An FMD outbreak in the United States could have devastating consequences, with a cost estimated at $20 billion to $60 billion.

FMD is caused by a virus, of which there are seven types. Among those seven, there are even more variations, resulting in more than 60 subtypes. For most of its existence, PIADC has been looking to develop more effective and more efficient vaccines for this complicated disease.

Because current vaccines use live virus, they cannot be manufactured in the United States. Another issue with current vaccines is that their potential use is limited because there is no way to differentiate between a vaccinated animal and an infected animal; both animals test positive for the disease, which affects a country’s ability to become FMD-free after an outbreak. (In 2001, the United Kingdom did not vaccinate animals after the outbreak and instead relied on culling infected and potentially exposed animals. Vaccination typically extends the wait period for being able to export agricultural products by several more months.)

PIADC is developing a new vaccine for FMD that is making strides in technology and options for potential use. The new vaccine uses a small number of genes from the virus—not the whole, live virus—so it can be manufactured in the United States. The new vaccine also allows the possibility to differentiate infected from vaccinated animals.

The vaccine opens up opportunities for countermeasure control in the event of an outbreak and, when finalized, would be the first to be licensed for manufacture in the United States. “This new FMD vaccine shows just how important Plum Island is to staying prepared and protecting the nation’s agriculture,” said Barrett.

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Watching What You Eat

That cheeseburger you just ordered: where did it come from? Where was it made? Are you sure it’s safe to eat?

How about that pickle on top? And the lettuce, the tomato, and the onion?

We usually don’t think about food safety until we’re asked to, or forced to. Maybe a health warning comes in from the CDC, or news hits about an outbreak of E. coli or salmonellae.

Bacterial and other kinds of food-borne illness outbreaks often happen by accident, with slipups in food safety and preparation. But researchers at the National Center for Food Protection and Defense (NCFPD) are also thinking about the possibility that the food supply could be sabotaged—contaminated on purpose with biological, chemical, or even radiological agents.

Numerous ingredients, from across the country or around the world, go into the making of a cheeseburger. NCFPD is helping agencies and companies with how to keep track of it all.

It’s happened before. In 1984, for instance, a cult contaminated a restaurant salad bar, causing more than 750 illnesses, and in 1996, a lab technician poisoned a dozen coworkers with laced pastries. NCFPD is helping to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

As a DHS Center of Excellence based at the University of Minnesota, NCFPD helps governments and companies guard against food contamination, both accidental and intentional. The center’s slate of scientists and experts has developed innovative modeling technologies that simulate where and when food is produced and distributed, from the farm to the dinner table. These technologies also assess the interstate transportation of food, as well as the many imports from around the globe.

This is no small task. According to NCFPD, there are an estimated 2.1 million farms in the United States, plus about 30,000 food-processing sites, 19,000 food packers, and well over a million retail stores and outlets. That doesn’t include the foreign farms and production sites that contribute to food in America. These all feed into a complex trading network, reaching coast to coast and around the world.

Where’s the Beef? These screenshots from the center’s Consequence Management System depict a hypothetical scenario in which a terrorist pours dangerous arsenic trioxide into about 100,000 lbs. of beef that is then formed into four-ounce patties and distributed to 19 food distributors in the Southeast and Midwest. From there, the beef goes to more than 1,200 grocery stores (the size of the circles indicates the amount delivered). The first shot, above, shows the product’s distribution when the first illness occurs in two days; the second shot, below, shows the distribution after seven days, when at least one person is dead.

However, NCFPD has a valuable ingredient to success: breaking through fears about giving away trade secrets, the center has convinced large food manufacturers and suppliers to share their proprietary data about how much food is made and where it is sent. NCFPD keeps a close hold on this information, applying it to build true-to-life scenarios that show, for example, how E. coli can quickly spread from the meatpacking plant to the frozen food aisle.

“We have a lot of close collaboration with industry,” said Dr. Frank Busta, Director Emeritus and Senior Science Advisor at NCFPD. “They’ve volunteered their information and assistance to both protect the public and avoid the economic consequences of an outbreak.”

A major NCFPD project is the Consequence Management System, which uses advanced computer models to predict, track, and then react to contamination incidents (see the screenshots). Developed by BT Safety, a small firm based in Eden Prairie, Minn., the system can be used in the event of an incident to help DHS and other Federal and state agencies—and the food companies involved—to pinpoint the origin of the contamination in addition to the potential extent of the illnesses that could result from it. The models can assist, too, with the coordination of efforts to alert the public and contain the outbreak.

Another major NCFPD project is the Food and Agriculture Sector Criticality Assessment Tool. While still in the design and testing phase, the tool “provides a means of capturing what is truly critical in the food and agriculture sector,” said Shaun Kennedy, the Director of NCFPD. “Knowing what is critical is a prerequisite for effectively identifying those things that need further protection.” Developed in partnership with the National Center for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense, based at Texas A&M University, the tool is now in the hands of a growing number of state agencies that would be affected by an intentional attack.

“A lot of states go by different rules, so this is a common way to determine vulnerabilities and make priorities,” said John Hoffman, a senior research fellow at NCFPD who works with both DHS’s S&T Directorate and its Office of Health Affairs.

More than 30 states are field-testing the assessment tool and working with companies to encourage their participation, and many of those states are even looking to consider the tool as a formal part of their homeland security strategy, Hoffman said. Some insurance companies are also starting to take notice, recognizing the tool’s potential for limiting corporate liabilities. “This is turning into a huge success story,” he said.

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S&T Snapshots is a newsletter produced by the DHS Science and Technology Directorate in partnership with the Homeland Security Institute. HSI is a Studies and Analysis Federally Funded Research and Development Center.