BookBrowse Reviews Lab 257 by Michael C. Carroll

Is there a connection between Lyme disease, West Nile Virus and a biological research station just a few miles from New York City?
Current Affairs/Science

From the Book Jacket: In the shadow of New York City lies an unimposing 840-acre island unidentified on most maps. Lab 257 takes you deep inside Plum Island's laboratories and presents startling revelations including virus outbreaks, biological meltdowns and the connections between Plum Island, Lyme disease and the West Nile virus. 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.

Comment: Is there a connection between Lyme disease, West Nile virus and the Department of Homeland Security's laboratories on Plum Island? According to Michael Carroll's apparently thorough research, yes there is, and those aren't the only concerns - add to these biological meltdowns, infected workers denied assistance in diagnosis, flushing of contaminated sewage into local waters, and it's difficult to be anything but concerned. Is Plum Island an accident waiting to happen? It would seem so.

The following quote comes from Mario Cuomo, former Governor of New York (1982-1994).
"If we're lucky, someone in the media will read this carefully researched, chilling expose of a potential catastrophe and force the government to do something about it. If not, Mike Carroll's brilliant work will have been wasted and we may be the victims, once again, of government inadvertence."

Useful Links: Information about West Nile Virus and Lyme Disease.