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 cattle and farm animals. Its virulence made it a major concern during the Cold War when the U.S. military had considered using it to destroy Soviet farms and food stores. During the meeting in 2008, the subcommittee discussed a government exercise that had been implemented to assess the preparedness of the U.S. in the case of a large-scale outbreak. The exercise ended with the destruction of almost 50 million head of livestock, food shortages, riots, and a 25 mile ditch filled with the carcasses of infected animals. The facility that, for 50 years, has been at the heart of the research for this calamitous disease may have other secrets locked away in its deepest levels. This case file, join the Theorists as they go for the body and reacquaint themselves with the great governor of Minnesota on the shores of...Plum Island