Biowar in CT and NY

[John Young]

The US Department of Agriculture Plum Island 
Animal Disease Center says:

  http://www.ars.usda.gov/plum/

"The Plum Island Animal Disease Center is a Biosafety 
Level 3 (BSL-3) facility designed and constructed to 
work with the most dangerous animal diseases in the 
world, such as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), Rinderpest, 
and African swine fever. In fact, by federal law, Plum Island 
is the only place in the U.S. where FMD and Rinderpest
viruses can be studied.

As a BSL-3 facility, PIADC already has in place state-of-the-art 
biosafety practices and procedures to prevent a disease 
organism from escaping into the environment, including 
stringent and rigorously observed safety measures within the 
laboratories themselves."

... still,

"Plum Island, N.Y., Sept. 5, 2000 The U.S. Department of
Agricultures Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC) has
created a forum groupfor public affairs and safety and
emergency preparedness, to provide new conduits for
communication with the centers neighbors. 

The forum includes eight local officials who represent
communities in New York and Connecticut within commuting
distance of Plum Island. The forum will initially meet once a
month with USDA scientists and other staff as part of an ongoing
dialogue on the centers research activities, responsibilities, and
general operations."

... so, did a forum member track the virus home to CT?
Probably not:

"Visitors:

* Must sign a personal recognizance statement undertaking 
  to abide by the Safety Rules. 

* Must take a shower and follow personal decontamination 
procedures when exiting biocontainment Building 101. 

* Who have been in biocontainment must observe a 
self-imposed quarantine, meaning they cannot be around 
livestock, zoos or circuses for 5 days after coming out of
biocontainment. (This does not include dogs and cats.) "

... but,

"In October 1991, all operation and maintenance activities 
were privatized, transferring to a contractor (under USDA 
supervision) all personnel involved in these activities. 
Currently the operations and maintenance of the PIADC 
are conducted through a contract with LB&B Associates, 
Inc., headquartered in Columbia, Md. LB&B is a minority, 
woman-owned business."