Plum Island Animal Disease Center: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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=== Conspiracy theories ===

Prolific but unfounded [[Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]] have alleged that [[Lyme disease]], first documented in nearby [[Lyme, Connecticut]], was a biological weapon which originated in the Plum Island laboratory.<ref name="Telford-wapo">{{cite news|last1=Telford|first1=Sam|date=11 August 2019|title=No, Lyme disease is not an escaped military bioweapon, despite what conspiracy theorists say|language=en|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/no-lyme-diease-is-not-an-escaped-military-bioweapon-despite-what-conspiracy-theorists-say/2019/08/09/5bbd85fa-afe4-11e9-8e77-03b30bc29f64_story.html|access-date=10 August 2020}}</ref> A discredited 2004 book entitled ''Lab 257: The Disturbing Story of the Government's Secret Plum Island Germ Laboratory'' fueled the conspiracy theories.<ref name="cnn" /><ref name="kirby">Kirby, Reid. "[http://www.wood.army.mil/chmdsd/pdfs/Jan-June%202005/BookReviews.pdf Book Reviews] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090309171459/http://www.wood.army.mil/chmdsd/pdfs/Jan-June%202005/BookReviews.pdf#|date=2009-03-09}}", ''Army Chemical Review'', January–June 2005, accessed January 10, 2009.</ref> Archived specimens show that Lyme disease was endemic well before the establishment of Plum Island laboratory.<ref name="Telford-wapo" /> Additionally, Lyme disease was never a topic of research at Plum Island, according to the US Department of Homeland Security and Department of Agriculture. <ref name="plum-island-web-site">{{cite web|date=6 July 2009|title=Plum Island Animal Disease Center|url=https://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/plum-island-animal-disease-center|access-date=10 August 2020|website=Department of Homeland Security|language=en}}</ref><ref name="cnn" />

On July 12, 2008, a creature dubbed the [[Montauk Monster]] washed ashore at Ditch Plains Beach near the business district of [[Montauk, New York]]. The creature, a [[quadruped]] of indeterminate size, was dead when discovered, and was assumed by some to have come from Plum Island as a result of the currents and proximity to the mainland. [[Paleozoology|Palaeozoologist]] [[Darren Naish]] studied the photograph and concluded from visible [[dentition]] and the front paws that the creature may have been a [[raccoon]].<ref name="Naish">{{cite web |url=http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2008/08/the_montauk_monster.php |title=What was the Montauk monster? : Tetrapod Zoology |publisher=Scienceblogs.com |date=2008-08-04 |access-date=2009-07-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120507175716/http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2008/08/the_montauk_monster.php |archive-date=2012-05-07 }}</ref> This was also the opinion of Larry Penny, the [[East Hampton (town), New York|East Hampton]] Natural Resources Director.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indyeastend.com/PicPaperBody.lasso?-token.issue=2008-07-23&-token.page=10 |title=The Hound of Bonacville |publisher=Indyeastend.com – The Independent |date=2008-07-23 |access-date=2009-06-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722114350/http://www.indyeastend.com/PicPaperBody.lasso?-token.issue=2008-07-23&-token.page=10 |archive-date=July 22, 2012 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>