Michael C. Carroll

Interesting in lots of ways. The origin of Lyme Disease from chemical warfare? All that and more!

The history of the research centre on Plum Island just off Long Island. Years of denials about its true purpose but it figures high on Russia’s list of places to be curious about.

A well documented account of the Foot & Mouth outbreak in 1976 which flies in the face of the US claim that the last outbreak was 1929.

Also a reflection of the changes since its inception in the halcyon days of scientific research in the 50s. Originally protected by a resident force of 34 highly armed guards reduced to one unarmed security man after privatisation. Likewise a permanent fire brigade of 12 staff highly trained in what can happen at a secret viral/bacterial facility, reduced to one untrained person

Having one of the most toxic stores of bacterial and viral agents with no antidote or vaccine in the US and also having a disturbingly bad record of working with this stuff in safety.

A disturbingly good read… (más)

The start of this book is ready easy to summarize: "The government lied to us." Or more completely: The government lied to us about this deadly disease laboratory, and several especially virulent diseases now found in the US spread from there. And they did it for decades. As I began reading, the details seemed a bit tedious, but I suppose that's what happens when you research something that is being hidden - you have to present whatever information you can find. As the book went on that feeling left me and I was more interested in seeing the drama unfold. Early in the book we are introduced to a host of incurable diseases: Lyme disease, Elboa, Rift Valley, Hoof and Mouth, and others. There we have a concentrated supply of them less than 2 miles from a major US population center, and right in a hurricane path.

There is lots of tragedy in here - of people's lives damaged as a new administration ignores basic safety.

"After the meltdown, with no help from Plum Island and no diagnosis from his doctor, Shine turned to the one person who could help him recover - his wife, Fran. 'My best doctor was my wife. She took all these books out of the local library, and threw away my meds.' Fran put him on a strict regimen of exercise, good food, and positive thinking, and he slowly regained himself. To this very day he has no idea what his illness was. A possibility is one of the feared 'slow' viruses, so named not for the tempo of virus growth, but for the protracted time of the disease's course, which can be months or years." (Page 211)

The Soviets knew what was going on. (Chapter 14)

Speaking of the Russians: "In 1976, the average U.S. farm worker fed 52 mouths, while the Russian worker fed only seven; livestock production per animal was up 130 percent from the previous fifty years. ... The USDA has accomplished this growth through proselytizing the new religion of science with an uncanny blind faith, ignoring any fallout over the last half century. It claimed that DDT would not contaminate the wildlife and marine ecosystem. Thanks in large part to [a:Rachel Carson|15332|Rachel Carson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1183236528p2/15332.jpg], the USDA now admits that it does. The USDA championed chemical pesticides ... But now, it grudgingly admits the chemicals are infused into the food products people eat, and wreak havoc upon wildlife. ... said that fertilizer nitrates ... would never reach groundwater aquifers. Today, the USDA admits that nitrates have seeped into and blighted potable water supplies in dangerous concentrations. ... The USDA promoted dieldrin ... to eliminate the Argentinean fire ant. ... 'The lost war against the fire ants should have been a cautionary, ... instead it typified a mind-set that substituted faith in science and bureaucratic expertise for common sense.' " (Page 232)

The author is not a professional author nor investigative journalist. This is something he cared deeply enough about to spend 7 years putting it together. And that is what makes the book interesting. (page 288)
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