“Department of Homeland Security is proposing to move foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) research from its current location at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center—located on a federally owned island off the northern tip of Long Island, New York—and potentially onto the united States mainland. FMD is the most highly infectious animal disease that is known. Nearly 100% of exposed animals become infected. A single outbreak of FMD on the U.S. mainland could have significant economic consequences. GAO was asked to evaluate the evidence DHS used to support its decision that FMD work can be done safely on the U.S. mainland, whether an island location provides any additional protection over and above that provided by modern high containment laboratories on the mainland, and the economic consequences of an FMD outbreak on the U.S. mainland.”
DHS Lacks Evidence to Conclude that Foot-and-Mouth Disease Research can be Done Safely on the U.S. Mainland
- June 27, 2011
- | Filed under North America, Report, and 2001-2025
