Foot-and-mouth disease, a viral disease that affects cows and
other cloven-hoofed animals, is not something to play around
with. It’s so contagious that when an outbreak occurred in
Britain in 2001, the government slaughtered 6 million cows,
sheep, and pigs to contain its spread. Still, researchers need
to study the virus somewhere in order to develop vaccines and
treatments. At the moment the only place for that research
within the United States is the Plum Island Animal Disease
Center, located on a small island a few miles off the tip of
Long Island. But the government has declared that facility
outdated and hopes to build a new $450-million facility
somewhere on the mainland, kicking up a round of “not in my
backyard” complaints. The lab’s prospective neighbors have
reason to be nervous; a new government study says that a breach
at the lab could decimate nearby herds and cost the American
economy $4 billion. The new National Bio and Agro-Defense
Facility would have the best security money can buy, and the