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Agroterrorism: Betting Far More than the Farm
Title: Agroterrorism: Betting Far More than the Farm
Date: 2004
Author: Roger Breeze
Institution: Mary Ann Leibert, INC
Bibliographic Entry: Breeze, R. “Agroterrorism: Betting far More than the Farm.” Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Practice, and Science. 2004; 2(2): 251-64.
Electronic Link: http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1089/bsp.2004.2.251
Key Words: agroterrorism, foot and mouth disease (FMD), epidemic, outbreaks, International Office of Epizootics
Summary of Key Points, Issues, Conclusions:
“Terrorist attacks on U.S. agriculture are not about imperiling our food supplies: they are about terror, money, mass slaughter, and funeral pyres all day every day on CNN and al Jazeera. Our national policy for inadvertent and deliberate foreign animal disease introductions should be simple: we will minimize direct and indirect economic impacts, and we will not engage in mass slaughter.”
Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) is considered the most dangerous animal disease that could be introduced into the U.S. as well as the largest terrorist threat. This paper discusses specific outbreaks and the implications they have had on the cattle industry and economy. Outbreaks in Britain and the U.S. are both discussed. Also, detection and response policies dealing with FMD in the U.S. are discussed. These policies did not come to be through just the thoughts of policy-makers in the U.S. Instead, they have been established through the collaboration of many countries through the International Office of Epizootics.
The author does have recommendations for the type of policy the U.S. needs for FMD and agricultural diseases to better protect the country. These include:
- Rapid, on-farm diagnostic tests that can be read by experts at a distance in real time over the Internet
- A real time, Internet-based command, control, and communication system to coordinate federal, state, and local responses
- A differential test that discriminates vaccinated animals from those that have recovered from disease yet might still be infectious for others
- Tracking and identification systems to follow animals and products from farm to table through the entire production and processing chain, and even internationally
The rest of the report speaks of the threat of agroterrorism the country faces, the nature of the vulnerability in the U.S. and the technologies that will allow new policy to be formed. He brings up how FMD moves through the agribusiness sector and how the nation can mitigate costs and avoid a mass slaughter of livestock. To provide the highest level of protection against FMD and other pathogens that may be used as agroterrorism, both industry and the government need to work together.
Name of Researcher: Jennifer Davis
Institution: Integrative Center for Homeland Security, Texas A&M University
Date Posted: February 5, 2008