Antianimal Biological Weapons Programs - Deadly Cultures: Biological Weapons Since 1945 - page 226

Table 11.1 Summary of animal pathogens and antisera housed at Fort Terry, Plum
Island, New York, before its deactivation in 1954

No. of
hyperimmune
sera

No. of
convalescent
sera

No. of
strains

No. of
antisera Agent

African swine fever virus 7 — — —

Blue tongue virus 5 — 1 —

Bovine influenza virus 1 — — —

Diarrhea of cattle virus — — — 3

Foot and mouth disease virus 11 6 — —

Fowl plague virus 34 — — —

Goat pneumonitis virus 4 — — —

Mycobacteria 1 — — —

“N” virus 1 — — —

Newcastle disease virus 3 — — —

Rift Valley fever virus 4 — 1 —

Rinderpest virus 41 4 — —

Sheep pox virus 2 — — —

Teschers disease virus 11 — — 7

Vesicular stomatitis virus 7 — 2 —

eases for potential as BW agents. It appears that development of the
causative organism of rinderpest (a disease of cattle) had already been
achieved in Project 1001, which took place outside the US. During its op-
eration, personnel from Fort Terry were involved in collaborative ex-
changes with other facilities, including the FMD laboratory at Pirbright in
the UK. The inventory taken at Fort Terry before its deactivation reveals
the presence of 15 agents and antisera for many of them (table 11.1). 5
Antianimal activities, however, were not limited to Plum Island. A
1950 overview of the operational divisions present at Fort Detrick indi-
cated the presence of V and C Sections, representing veterinary and crop
capabilities. 6
Despite the early interest in this form of warfare, by 1952 antianimal
BW had been dismissed as “relatively insignificant,” and military support
for R&D was withdrawn in September 1953. This move followed a report
by the Joint Staff Planners in August asserting that the US military had