Hundreds of children had become mysteriously stricken with what appeared to be juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Researchers soon discovered that the arthritis was only the chief symptom of a brand new disease most commonly associated with children who played in and about the forests of Lyme. From there, researchers zeroed in on a tick that had spawned the transmission of this relatively new virus. The malady would soon become known as Lyme disease; its dreaded tell-tale signature a ‘bulls-eye rash’ delivered from the bite of an infected deer tick.
Another Tick-Borne Disease Re-Emerges Near Plum Island Bio-Warfare Facility: The Powassan Virus
April 13th, 2015
Another Tick-Borne Disease Re-Emerges Near Plum Island Bio-Warfare Facility: The Powassan Virus
Posted by: Barry Secrest
Published on April 13th, 2015 @ 07:49:43 pm , using 1753 words
Posted in Opinion
Conservative Refocus
By Barry Secrest
It began in a tiny little seacoast research town in Connecticut called Lyme, back in 1975.
Hundreds of children had become mysteriously stricken with what appeared to be juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Researchers soon discovered that the arthritis was only the chief symptom of a brand new disease most commonly associated with children who played in and about the forests of Lyme.
From there, researchers zeroed in on a tick that had spawned the transmission of this relatively new virus. The malady would soon become known as Lyme disease; its dreaded tell-tale signature a ‘bulls-eye rash’ delivered from the bite of an infected deer tick.
Since the advent of Lyme disease in 1975, the illness has inflicted more than a quarter of a million individuals with a minimum of approximately 20,000 new cases per year.
But why did the disease only meaningfully emerge in 1975, and why in Lyme, Connecticut?
There’s much more to this story than just the well beyond odd emergence of a new tick-borne virus discovered in one of the most highly developed areas in the US, if not the planet.
Plum Island
In 1952, the Army Chemical Corps reactivated the now notorious Plum Island Animal Disease Center, which is located on a bird haven isle only a few miles from and adjacent to Lyme, Connecticut, on the same island which also houses Fort Terry, a biological warfare defense research facility.
During the Cold War, the combined center was used as a secret biological weapons program targeting livestock, which would allegedly feature strange genetically mutated creatures washing up on the shores of the US mainland, making Plum Island the controversial center of numerous well-founded conspiracy theories and books related to a biohazard warfare conspiracy.
The Montauk Island Monster
In 2003, the entire facility was placed under the authority of the US Department of Homeland Security. From there the facility was eventually destined to be moved to a newer, updated, bio-warfare facility located in Kansas, near an existing bio-warfare lab, and where construction and perhaps even some operations have already begun.
Plum Island is now for sale by the US government.
But, it’s here, on the eastern shores of Connecticut, very near Plum Island, where a new and perhaps even more alarming story is now emerging.
On April the 7th, CBS News New York began reporting on a new and untreatable tick-borne virus that has been re-discovered in the various areas around Lyme, Connecticut. This relatively new virus, now labeled as the “Powassan tick-borne virus” is resistant to all known types of treatment. The disease can be fatal and is transmitted within hours of the tick’s bite.
A deer tick infected with Lyme disease leaves tell-tale rash
Once again, the deer tick has been identified as a possible carrier of the new disease. In the case of this virus, and unlike Lyme disease, there are no visible symptoms from onset; however, once onset begins, some victims will suffer from both encephalitis and meningitis, two afflictions which can easily become terminal.
Symptoms for the virus include headache, nausea, and fever.
Even more interestingly, while the CBS report states “there have been no reported cases of the disease,” later in that same report the story indicates that there were 12 human cases reported in 2013, which suggests that while researchers have been aware of the lethality of this new virus, the reports are only now trickling into the public domain meaningfully.
A Plum Island flyer-style website ad seeking researchers
Moreover, while the researchers have not addressed the uniqueness of such a disease emerging lethally in the American northeast, they also appear silent on the odds surrounding two lethal tick-borne diseases emerging from within the same region, near the epicenter of a bio-warfare lab founded to produce just this type of plague.
But while the extraordinarily rare Powassan virus has been known to exist since about 1958, why the sudden insistent emergence near Lyme, Connecticut, of all places?
The two towns indicated where the new tick-borne illness has emerged are Bridgeport and Braden Connecticut; both towns lie within 50 miles of Plum island, and both are practically on the seashore. Lyme lies mere minutes away from both towns, alongside a river that feeds into the Atlantic.
In fact, Lyme, Connecticut is located about 20 miles away from Plum Island, while Bridgeport is located about 40 miles away, and Braden a scant 25 miles away from the island.
Overhead photo of Plum Island’s main research building
Devils Triangle
So, is there a new Devils Triangle of tick-borne illness, situated right here in the US with Plum Island at its epicenter?
The causative factor in this particular case being that ticks are routinely used in genetic research due to their ability to spread disease. According to Wikipedia, “Lab 257, a book written by Michael C. Carroll, has alleged a direct connection between Plum Island Animal Disease Center and the outbreaks of at least two other infectious diseases: West Nile virus in 1999, and the Dutch duck plague in 1967.”
While these facts may seem fantastic enough, there’s even more to this story.
As reported back in December of 2014, we noted another rather bizarre “happenstance” surrounding this same story.
The now ubiquitous Lone Star tick
The Associated Press reported in August that a specific type of tick, which is normally found in the American Southwest, is now appearing all over the US; however, it’s what happens after the tick bite that has stunned even physicians.
The infected tick can cause an allergic response so terrible with its bite that it can send an individual into anaphylaxis, which is a life-threatening allergic reaction.
However, the reaction occurs only if the bitten individual eats red meat and, even more unbelievably, it takes about six to eight hours for the reaction to take place.
Much as with Lyme disease, the allergic response is appearing all over the US, but only from a creature known as the “Lone Star Tick.” The effects from the bite appear to be ongoing with regard to the extraordinarily odd red meat allergic reaction.
Newer Tick-Borne Viruses Emerge
Regarding the now newly ubiquitous “Lone Star Tick” there is a bit more to the story, from a website called Preventdisease.com a research specialist and consumer advocate, had this to say:
Researcher and entomologist Jaime Lombard says the ticks have been in circulation for a few years however the latest crop released are becoming more potent. “Scientists have been experimenting on ticks since the 1960s because of their ability to spread disease. Since then, genetically engineered ticks have become more potent and scientists can create human disease almost at will,” he stated.
Shortly after the National Bio and Agro defense facility had moved its operations into Kansas, two new potentially fatal tick-borne diseases emerged in Kansas.
From the AP comes the first story on the most recently discovered disease :
“A new virus thought to be carried by ticks or other insects has been discovered following the death of a southeast Kansas resident during the summer, public health officials said Monday.
The new virus is called Bourbon virus, after Bourbon County, home of the patient who died. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said the patient’s symptoms, including fever and fatigue, were similar to symptoms from other tick-borne diseases.
The Kansas health department said testing by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that the patient had a virus not previously identified. Health department spokeswoman Aimee Rosenow said it’s still not clear how much the Bourbon virus contributed to the patient’s death.
“This was the first known instance and the only confirmed case,” Rosenow said. “This is a new virus, and we are still learning.”
The health department declined to identify the victim of the virus or provide details about the case, saying it was protecting the privacy of the patient and family members.”
Even worse, there is also yet another tick-born disease, which has emerged in Kansas as well, called “The Heartland Virus.” This story from the Fort Scott Tribune:
The Heartland virus is also a relatively new tick-borne virus that is carried by the Lone Star tick. According to the CDC, there is also currently no vaccine or medication to treat or cure the Heartland virus.
But, more interesting might be the proximity of the Bourbon viruses’ initial hot zone, which is a knight-like move of only about 200 miles away, from Manhattan, Kansas.
The Heartland virus, originated 182 miles away from Manhattan Kansas, in an almost geometrically identical movement compared to the Bourbon Virus.
The new bio-engineer warfare center located in Manhattan, Kansas, lies very near the geographic center of the US.
So, is there a specific type of causation involved?
The US government has long been associated with extreme duplicity with regard to human experimentation in cases ranging from the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, to the Government’s 1950 spraying of harmful bacteria over the population of San Francisco causing rampant pneumonia and even civilian deaths.
There was also the 1955 delivery of whooping cough by the CIA which caused an epidemic in Tampa Bay Florida, and in 1955, 300,000 yellow-fever carrying mosquitos were dropped over Georgia.
In 1957 there were numerous radioactive fallout tests which resulted in an epidemic of thyroid cancer; in 1971 a radiation test was conducted on poor black cancer victims. There were also the US military mustard gas experiments on our fighting men from 1942 to 1944, plus the MKultra experiments on mind control from 1953 to 1974.
In fact, the US government has conducted a wide range of civilian tests from a variety of hazards over numerous populations all throughout the 20th century. The question, inevitably becomes, has the US finally stopped experimenting on its population or will the 21st century mark a new era of government experimentation?
Now, with the US government’s latest involvement in nationalized healthcare under the auspices of Obamacare, perhaps the sky is no longer the limit.
A Confluence of Happenstance…
When we take the various components of these new illnesses and link them together, we find, at the very least, a series of new tick-borne diseases having commonly emerged.
Each located remarkably near government bio-hazard defense research centers, and each associated with insects routinely utilized as genetic research specimens due to unique attributes geared towards stealthily spreading debilitating illness.
The confluence of these diseases occurring within two separate geographic regions with bio-hazard warfare labs at each region’s epicenter would seem to suggest something other than bizarre happenstance.
Sources:
CBS Local News New York, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Tuskegee University, Wikipedia, Plum Island Animal Disease Research Center, NBC News, Preventdisease.com, Kansas Health Dept., Center for Disease Control, Fort Scott Tribune, Global Research, Digital Journal, CTBTO.org, UK Independent, Gizmodo