PLUM ISLAND 



ANIMAL DISEASE 

 LABORATORY 



RESEARCH ON FOREIGN 

 DISEASES OF ANIMALS 



The Plum Island Animal Disease Laboratory, 

 the Nation's only research center for the study of 

 contagious foreign animal diseases, occupies an 

 island off the eastern end of Long Island, N.Y. 

 It is operated by the U.S. Department of Agri- 

 culture, which is responsi])le for preventing the 

 introduction of foreign animal diseases into our 

 domestic animal population and for estaljlish- 

 ing a program of preparedness, aimed at eradi- 

 cation if outbreaks of these diseases should occur. 

 Such diseases, if introduced into this country, 

 could result in high death tolls or cause serious 

 economic losses among susceptible livestock. 



Federal inspectors at U.S. borders and ports 

 have the job of keeping out these foreign dis- 

 eases. Widespread use of transportation facili- 

 ties connecting the United States with once-remote 

 countries has increased the risk of outbreaks of 

 contagious diseases, and has made the inspectors' 

 work more complex. At the same time, inspec- 

 tion has become more effective through applica- 

 tion of new research findings. 



Some of these findings have been made at the 

 Plum Island Laboratory, a part of the Animal 

 Disease and Parasite Research Division of the 

 Agricultural Resean^h Service. The purpose of 



the Plum Island Laboratory is to discover basic 

 scientific facts that can be used in combating the 

 foreign animal diseases by — 



• Preventing their entry into the L^nited 

 States. 



• Controlling and eradicating any diseases 

 that might gain entrance. 



• Supplying scientific information to foreign 

 countries, thus decreasing hazards to the United 

 States. 



DISEASES STUDIED 



The contagious foreign animal diseases 

 studied in the Plum Island laboratory include: 



• Foot-and-mouth disease, ^\■hich primarily 

 affects cattle, swine, sheep, and goats. 



• Rinderpest, a disease of cattle. 



• Teschen disease of swine. 



• African swine fever. 



• Fowl plague. 



• Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia. 



The first five are virus diseases. Pleuropneu- 

 monia is caused by an organism intermediate in 

 size between bacteria and viruses. 



