The laboratoiy also is concerned with other 

 foreign diseases of animals, including — 



• Sheep pox. 



• Nairobi sheep disease. 



• African horsesickness. 



• Rift valley fever, a disease of sheep, cattle, 

 and goats. 



• Asiatic Newcastle disease, which affects 

 poultry. 



• Louping ill, a disease of sheep. 



• East coast fever, a disease of cattle. 



• Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis. 



Some of these diseases affect wild animals and 

 birds, in addition to domestic animals. 



Primary research emphasis at the Plum Island 

 laboratory is placed on foot-and-mouth disease, 

 because of its great economic importance. Tech- 

 niques and materials are being developed for 

 rapid diagnosis of this and other foreign dis- 

 eases in the event of outbreaks here. 



The laboratory's program is flexible enough 

 to allow the study of additional disease problems 

 when necessary. The work of the laboratory is 

 divided into two parts — research and service. 



RESEARCH 



Veterinarians, virologists, bacteriologists, 

 pathologists, chemists, physicists, and their tech- 

 nical assistants — all have a place in the labora- 

 tory. Working alone or as teams, they are 

 assigned to one of the five research sections: Bio- 

 chemical and physical, cytological, diagnostic, 

 immunological, or microbiological investi- 

 gations. 



These researchers are well equipped with the 

 most modern instruments, and they make use of 

 advanced techniques — including electron micros- 

 copy, histochemistry, microcinematography, 

 ultracentrifugation, fluorescent antibody micros- 

 copy, and radioautography. New developments 

 in basic and applied sciences are regularly in- 

 corporated in the laboratory program. 



ISLAND 



ATLANTIC OCEAS 



Plum Island lies off the eastern end of the north 

 fork of Long Island. It is between Long 

 Island Sound and Gardiner's Bay, about 61^ 

 miles south of Connecticut. 



Scientists in biochemical and physical investi- 

 gations are concerned with problems in physico- 

 chemistry and biophysics. 



Animal virus particles are examined for their 

 chemical properties, including resistance to me- 

 chanical treatments, pH changes, thermal 

 changes, and variations in ionic strength. The 

 eifects of enzymes and chemicals as purifying 

 agents, inactivants, and mutagens are determined. 



Viruses are studied intact and broken down 

 into their protein and infectious nucleic acid 

 subunits. Size, shape, and diffusion, electro- 

 phoretic, and sedimentation rates of viruses are 

 determined. 



Correlations of physicochemical properties 

 with infectivity, immunogenicity, and antibody- 

 antigen relationships are investigated. 



Virus-host-cell relationships are studied in 

 tissue culture by biological and chemical meth- 

 ods, respirometry, ultrathin sections, and radio- 

 biological tracers. 



