WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 29: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Well being and Human Companies testifies throughout his Senate Finance Committee affirmation listening to on the Dirksen Senate Workplace Constructing on January 29, 2025 in Washington, DC. Along with assembly with the Senate Finance Committee, Kennedy may even meet with the Senate Well being, Schooling, Labor and Pensions Committee tomorrow. (Photograph by Win McNamee/Getty Photographs)
Between the Montauk Mission, Camp Hero, and the Montauk Monster, the idea that Lyme illness was manufactured at Plum Island Animal Illness Heart has most likely been one of many lesser-known conspiracy theories concerning the East Finish – till now.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was grilled on his perception on this and different conspiracy theories throughout his affirmation hearings earlier than the U.S. Senate voted 52-48 to substantiate President Donald Trump’s nomination of RFK Jr. to be the subsequent secretary of the U.S. Secretary of Well being and Human Companies.
“Did you say Lyme disease is a highly likely militarily engineered bioweapon?” U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colorado) requested Kennedy. RFK Jr. — the son of former U.S. Legal professional Common Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy — responded: “I probably did say that.”
Previously, Kennedy has claimed that Lyme illness – which was first recognized in Lyme, Connecticut in 1975 and named for the group – originated within the Plum Island lab. Along with his ideas on Lyme illness’s origins, his views on different issues equivalent to vaccines, healthcare accessibility, and extra had been mentioned throughout his affirmation hearings.
Kennedy went into extra element on a January 2024 episode of his podcast, which is accessible on YouTube. In that very same episode, he additionally claimed West Nile virus may have come from Plum Island.
“Another thing that keeps us from enjoying the outdoors and keeps us locked inside and the idea that this may have been, is highly likely to have been a military weapon, and we cannot say 100 percent for sure, but we do know that they were experimenting with ticks there,” Kennedy stated to podcast visitor Kris Newby. “The ticks, as you show, are an epidemic because of what happened at Plum Island and the other labs. We also know that they were experimenting with diseases of the kind, like Lyme disease, at that lab, and they were putting them in ticks and then infecting people.”
The Plum Island Lighthouse.
This perception isn’t supported by scientists. In line with analysis performed by the Yale College of Medication, “the ongoing Lyme disease epidemic was not sparked by a recent introduction of the bacterium or an evolutionary change — such as a mutation that made the bacterium more readily transmissible. It is tied to the ecological transformation of much of North America. Specifically, forest fragmentation and the population explosion of deer in the last century have created optimal conditions for the spread of ticks and triggered this ongoing epidemic.”
The Plum Island Animal Illness Heart was a federal authorities analysis facility situated on Plum Island, simply east of Orient Level, primarily centered on learning overseas animal illnesses that might threaten livestock, equivalent to foot-and-mouth illness and African swine fever. Established in 1954, the middle was run by the U.S. Division of Agriculture and later overseen by the Division of Homeland Safety after 2003.
Plum Island’s major mission was to guard U.S. agriculture and meals safety by growing vaccines, diagnostics, and containment methods for extremely contagious livestock illnesses. Because of the delicate nature of its work, entry to the island was restricted, fueling such hypothesis and conspiracy theories.
Dan’s Papers beforehand reported that Plum Island’s decommissioning was set to start in December 2024, and its analysis is being transferred to the Nationwide Bio and Agro-Protection Facility in Manhattan, Kansas.
Of the multitude of fringe views concerning the lab, Dr. Lawrence Barrett informed reporters in 2013: “We didn’t have anything to do with any of those.”
Kennedy had initially run for president in 2024. At first, he challenged former President Joe Biden within the Democratic primaries however withdrew and launched an unbiased marketing campaign. After Biden dropped out and threw his help behind former Vice President Kamala Harris, Kennedy reportedly sought out Harris to withdraw and endorse her in trade for a cupboard place. When he obtained no response from the Harris marketing campaign, he endorsed Trump.
Plum Island.
