The island fortress where America fought transboundary animal plagues

Nature · Published 20 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: For over 70 years, a secluded island off Long Island served as the nation's primary shield against devastating livestock diseases. Now, as the facility prepares for permanent closure, a massive decontamination effort is underway to scrub the site of its high-containment history and return it to the state.

Established in 1954, the Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC) was created to protect the U.S. livestock industry from highly contagious pathogens like foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and African swine fever. Because FMD can devastate food security and the economy, the facility became the only site in the country authorized to work with live FMD samples. It functioned as a first line of defense against both naturally occurring outbreaks and intentional introductions of transboundary animal diseases.

The facility's history is marked by high-stakes security and controversy. During the Cold War, the site was used to study biological weapons for use against livestock until 1969. By 2000, activist pressure and concerns over its proximity to the New York metropolitan area prevented it from receiving Biosafety Level 4 accreditation. Following the 2001 anthrax attacks, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) took over operations in partnership with the USDA, eventually initiating plans in 2008 to replace the aging infrastructure with a new state-of-the-art facility in Manhattan, Kansas.

Scientific research at PIADC officially ended in September 2025. The current mission, managed under the Plum Island Closure and Support (PICS) Program, involves the complex task of decontaminating 70 buildings across 840 acres. The U.S. EPA and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation are overseeing the validation of sampling and decontamination strategies. The goal is to ensure the site is reduced to safe levels, allowing the state of New York to repurpose the land without risking the spread of animal diseases.

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