Lab 257

By Michael Christopher Carroll

Book Overview

Nestled near the Hamptons, the fashionable summer playground of America's rich and famous, and in the shadow of New York City, lies an unimposing 840-acre island unidentified on most maps. On the few on which it can be found, Plum Island is marked red or yellow, and stamped U.S. government--restricted or dangerous animal diseases. Though many people live the good life within a scant mile or two from its shores, few know the name of this pork chop-shaped island. Even fewer can say whether it is inhabited, or why it doesn't exist on the map. That's all about to change. Lab 257: The Disturbing Story of the Government's Secret Plum Island Germ Laboratory blows the lid off the stunning true nature and checkered history of Plum Island. It shows that the seemingly bucolic island on the edge of the largest population center in the United States is a ticking biological time bomb that none of us can safely ignore. Based on innumerable declassified government documents, scores of in-depth interviews, and access to Plum Island itself, this is an eye-opening, suspenseful account of a federal government germ laboratory gone terribly wrong. For the first time, Lab 257 takes you deep inside this secret world and presents startling revelations including virus outbreaks, biological meltdowns, infected workers who were denied assistance in diagnosis by Plum Island brass, the periodic flushing of contaminated raw sewage into area waters, and the insidious connections between Plum Island, Lyme disease, and the deadly 1999 West Nile virus outbreak. An exploration of the complex world of microbiology, viruses, and bacteria, Lab 257 also shows how the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which ran Plum Island for the last half century, is far more than wholesome grade-A eggs and the food pyramid. The book probes what's in store for Plum Island's new owner, the Department of Homeland Security, in this age of bioterrorism. And for those interested in questions of national security and safety, it is a call to action for those concerned with protecting present and future generations from preventable biological catastrophes. Lab 257 will change forever our current understanding of Plum Island -- a place that is, in the words of one insider, "a biological Three Mile Island."

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060011416
• ISBN13: 9780060011413
• Release Date: February 2004
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 289 Pages
• Weight: 1.33 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Riveting

I only recently found this book. The title intriqued me because I have my own suspicions about our government's germ experimentations. I am very ill and disabled with chronic lyme disease. I couldn't put Lab 257 down once I started it. I was completely riveted. Another reviewer stated that it reads like a thriller and I couldn't agree more. Yes, it is very disturbing and I cried through much of it. I also must warn the weak of heart animal lover like myself that certain parts of the book are very upsetting. Lab 257 is an important, eye-opening piece of investigative reporting which I highly recommend.

Lab 257: The Disturbing Story of the Government's Secret ..

Michael Carroll has done a tremendous job in writing this book. Having dealt with Lyme disease for the past 10 years makes one leery of what Lab 257 is doing. Is Lyme disease a US Government Coverup? A terrible mistake? An accident or a planned release of a bacteria that may be the cause of untold millions of illnesses. Why hasn't the US Government come up with an accurate test for Lyme disease? This book should be in every library and on everyone's reading list.

Couldn't put it down

Has it ever occurred to anyone that the first outbreaks of Lyme disease, in 1975, happened a mere 10 miles from the Plum Island germ laboratory? It certainly didn't to me until after reading this book. Since 1948, ticks have been bred and infected with the Lyme virus and other horrific viruses on this US govt. owned island located off the coast of Long Island and Connecticut in Long Island Sound. Old Lyme, CT, namesake of the disease, lies directly in the path of the prevailing wind direction from Plum Island. It just kind of makes you wonder.This book provides an objective history of the Plum Island Animal Disease Center - from its early days as a biological warfare laboratory following WWII (...), through the years it was controlled by the USDA, up until today, when control of the island lies with the Dept. of Homeland Security. At least two outbreaks of diseases that made it to the mainland from Plum Island have occurred over the years; there is also evidence that other virus outbreaks - such as the West Nile virus - possibly originated at the Plum Island facility.It is amazing that so few people really know about the activities on the island, especially when you consider that it is just miles from one of the most populated areas in the country - the New York City area. This book is a great read for anyone concerned about the environment, biological warfare, or the mechanics of the federal govt. It is a must-read for anyone living within 100 miles of Plum Island and/or using Long Island Sound recreationally.

Very well researched, LAB 257.....Ignore it at your own risk

Michael Carroll's brave and compelling book raises questions that must be answered. The depth of research becomes clear quite quickly, but Carroll's a master of taking a LOT of information and delivering it in a very readable fashion. If The Hot Zone and the Omega Code raised the hairs on your neck, this book will deliver, but much scarier, because you can't just walk away and say "It's only a movie"....Anyone who dismisses this book as an unlikely scenario is just naive. Bravo to Carroll, whose 7 years of writing shows up on every page. This is a book that you should read, and then send to your Congressperson and Senator immediately. Though Carroll discusses the threat to the eastern seabord, I'm here to tell you that the same thing that happens to the guard in the first chapter happened to me in the Hollywood Hills in one of LA's most exclusive neighborhoods.....that means it can happen to you. Read this book, and wise up.