Agro-Terrorism

1. Agro-Terrorism Overview of Risks, Liabilities, and Assets Richie Farmer Commissioner Dr. Ed Hall Assistant Director of Animal Health Kentucky Department of Agriculture

2. This presentation is designed to help you better get acquainted with us at the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.

3. Agroterrorism and Bioterrorism • Is there a difference between the two? • Agroterrorism is included as a part of Bioterrorism. • From an agriculture standpoint we are more interested in Agroterrorism.

4. Agroterroism vs Bioterrorism • Agroterrorism - agents are primarily aimed at disrupting agriculture with human disease impact being secondary. • Bioterrorism - agents are primarily aimed at causing human disease, sickness, and/or death, with agricultural impact being secondary. • The ideal disease provides the worst of both worlds.

5. Bioterrorism • Many of the bioterrorism diseases are zoonotic but they have to be weaponized to be used in attacks. • Examples: Anthrax, brucellosis, Glanders, Plague, Q fever, Tularemia, Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis • All have occurred naturally in animal populations and is where the disease was isolated. • We have developed good control measures to combat the naturally occurring animal diseases.

6. Bioterrorism Agents • Bacterial Agents • Anthrax • Vaccine available for animals. • Brucellosis • Vaccine available for animals. • Glanders and Melioidosis • Antibiotics available • Plague • Antibiotics available for animals • Q Fever • Antibiotics available • Tularemia • Antibiotics available

7. Bioterrorism Agents • Viral • Small Pox • Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis • Vaccine available for horses • Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers

8. Bioterrorism Agents • Biological Toxins • Botulinum • Ricin • Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B • T-2 Mycotoxins

9. Human-Animal Relationships • With some bioterrorism agents we may see a disease in animals prior to human disease. • Anthrax: The death of exposed cattle and sheep could happen 2 days prior to human deaths. • West Nile: Although the outbreak is not seen as a terrorist attack the disease showed up in birds and horses first and then in people.

10. Human-Animal Relationships • It is possible for a veterinary diagnostic lab to identify an agent before a human diagnosis. • Veterinary Diagnostic Labs still routinely look for diseases that are not commonly looked for in humans anymore. • Example: Brucellosis • Because of 9/11, both Veterinarians and Physicians are getting refresher courses in bioterrorism agents.

11. Essential Elements of Agroterrorism • Need a target • economically important plants or animals • Need a group capable of attack who: • mustselect the appropriate agent • must acquire the agent • must be able to disseminate the agent • Need a group willing to carry out the attack. • they have have desire to use an agent

12. Agent Selection • Should be highly contagious to many species • transmitted by casual contact or aerosol • Should have a long incubation period • Animal will be carrying and/or shedding the disease and look totally normal • Should induce a high rate of sickness low rate of death • Diseases that kill too quick usually don’t spread as fast.

13. Agent Selection • Should be capable of severe socio-economic losses • loss of product into the marketplace • loss of export markets • loss of consumer base

14. Agent Acquisition • Many 3rd world countries have some technology provided by the World Health Organization to make vaccines for human and animal diseases. • In general to make a vaccine to a specific disease you need to have a seed stock of that disease. • That seed stock is a likely source

15. Agent Acquisition • Many 3rd world countries still have many of the bioterrorism diseases occurring naturally in the animal population. • Example: Pakistan has FMD • Some rudimentary veterinary knowledge and you could acquire a wild strain. • Blood collection tube, centrifuge, freezer, insulation, and an airplane ticket.

16. Those Who Would Attack Us • Single issue groups • Animal rights advocates • National Separatist • Religious • Lone offenders • Rogue regimes • State supported

17. Motivations • Revenge/Retaliation • Promote nationalist or separatist objectives • Protest government policies • Create a lack of confidence in the governments ability to protect and provide • Apocalyptic prophecy • Promote a social cause

18. Higher Probability of Attack • Single issue groups like the animal rights activist are an ongoing threat. • Believe animals have “rights” • Agenda set on influencing production agriculture or laboratory testing. • In some cases resort to criminal activity to release captive animals. • ALF has released mink on several occasions.

19. Higher Probability of Attack • State Sponsored and Rogue Regime • Primary or secondary attack bent on destroying the agricultural infrastructure to try to: • Cause widespread economic losses especially to the 10% who produce food for consumers. • Decrease the amount of food available in the food chain. • Cause panic

20. What do we risk to lose!

21. Two Types of Risk • We have the combined risk of: • Accidental Introduction • Regulatory policies mediate this risk, more on this later! • Deliberate Introduction • Let’s concentrate on this for a while…... • You can’t totally eliminate either risk!

22. Risk in Kentucky • Broken into three categories • Physical • Economic • Psychological

23. Physical Risks • Movement of crops • Most of our crops are exported to processing facilities or utilized as animal feeds. • Grain elevators are concentration points for marketed products

24. Economic Risk • Loss of revenue from export markets • 405 million dollars from soybeans • 456 million dollars from corn • 2,226 billion dollars live livestock • 680 million dollars (eggs and poultry) • 3.5 billion dollars total commodities

25. Psychological Risks • Loss of confidence in a safe food supply • Example: If people even thought that the meat or milk supply was tainted, people would stop buying those products. • Loss of confidence in the governments ability to protect the food supply.

26. Psychological Attacks • Increased feelings of being vulnerable and less secure. • Look at the sniper incident and it’s effects on the local economy and peoples quality of life • Perceived shortage of food • Could lead to a run on stores and hoarding of food. • Look at what 9/11 did for gas, a run on the gas stations not to mention the price gouging that took place!

27. Agroterrorism Liabilities

28. Liabilities • Successful disease eradication programs • makes us more vulnerable to reintroduction • no immunity left in the animal population • Large concentrations of animals. • Some accessible from the road • Large concentration of crops. • Easily accessible from the road

29. Liabilities • Extensive movement of animals into and out of the state. • For breeding, feeding and slaughter • Extensive movement of products into and out of the state. • Corn, Soybeans, Milk, and Meat

30. Liabilities • Animal Concentration Points • 38 Sale Barns in the State of Kentucky • Usually have 1 sale a week • Little to no biosecurity • State and County Fairs • 109 Kentucky counties have one • Varying levels of biosecurity • 189 Grain Elevators • Little to no biosecurity

31. My 2 cents! • 10% of the US population is providing food for the other 90%. That makes food security a national priority. • In general we have become so comfortable in life and feel so secure that we are not near as self sufficient as we used to be.

32. Benefits of Rural Living • Better equipped to weather hard times by having tools to be self sufficient. • They have done it in the past • They have the land to produce food • They may lose some markets but they could still eat • Could go back to a barter system if necessary

33. The Trouble With Cities • Have a 5 day supply of food in stores • Many do not have many of the resources to be self sufficient. • Many don’t know where their food comes from much less how to process a chicken or can vegetables.

34. Assetsto Fight Agroterrorism

35. Assets • Disease eradication programs • Procedures to prevent are written down for the diseases we have eradicated • Multi-agency disease response plans • Plans are developed to deal with animal disease disasters • 850+ Veterinarians in Kentucky

36. Assets • Majority of poultry and swine are inside • Swine and poultry producers practice good biosecuirty. • Producers are pretty vigilant • generally know when a stranger is in the neighborhood

37. Assets • Producers use of veterinarians • This helps with quick diagnosis of disease • We have the farming infrastructure to be self-sufficient if needed. • We could shut down imports and still have an adequate food supply

38. Assets • Disease Surveillance and Detection Programs • Help speed up detection of disease. • Good diagnostic labs • Lab infrastructure is available to help diagnosis diseases. • National Animal Disease Center and National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames

39. Basic Disease Information

40. Some Quick History • Over the last 100 years States and the Federal Government have worked to eradicate the most dangerous human and animal diseases. • After we eradicate an animal diseases they are labeled Foreign Animal Diseases or FADs • The success in eradication of diseases leaves us vulnerable to reintroduction. Small pox ring a bell?

41. Disease Categories • Animal Diseases: Infect animals with little to no public health significance. • Foot and Mouth Disease, Hog cholera(classical swine fever) • Human Diseases: Infect humans with little to no animal health significance. • Small pox, Polio • Zoonotic Diseases: Infect both humans and animals. • Anthrax, Influenza

42. Diseases We Worry About? • There are many highly infectious animal diseases and each of them falls into one of the previous 3 categories. • Highly Infectious Animal Diseases • includes many of the foreign animal diseases but also includes diseases that have yet to be eradicated from the United States.

43. OIE definition:List A Diseases Transmissible diseases that have the potential for very serious and rapid spread, irrespective of national borders, that are of serious socio-economic or public health consequence and that are of major importance in the international trade of animals and animal products. There is an international group, the Office of International Epizootic (OIE) that maintains a list of highly infectious animal diseases. http://www.oie.int They define these diseases as List A diseases Highly Infectious Animal Diseases

44. Foreign Animal Diseases • Diseases that are not currently in the United States because they have been eradicated or have never been diagnosed in the United States. • Foot and Mouth Disease, Classical Swine Fever (Hog Cholera) • Not all foreign animal diseases fall in the highly infectious category. • However, they most likely have economic repercussions so we don’t want them here in the U.S.

45. Reportable Diseases • Every state has a list of diseases that are reportable by law to the State Veterinarian’s office. • Usually includes all list A diseases • Diseases that are significant to the state • West Nile and Pseudorabies • Not all diseases are reportable • common livestock diseases are excluded

46. Foreign Animal Diseases • From an economic standpoint we fear these diseases because they would cause us to lose our international export markets. • From a disease standpoint many of these disease are controllable and only a few would be extremely difficult to eradicate • Foot and Mouth would be the best example • Many of these diseases would not require a multi-agency response.

47. Foreign Animal Diseases • Vesicular diseases: • Foot and Mouth Disease • Vesicular Stomatitis • Swine Vesicular Disease • Vesicular Exanthema of Swine • Classical Swine Fever (Hog Cholera) and African Swine Fever

48. Foreign Animal Diseases • Capripox Virus Diseases • Rinderpest and Peste des Petits Ruminants • Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia

49. Highly Infectious Disease that are not FAD’s • These disease affect our export markets on a state basis. • Avian influenza • Newcastles disease

50. Plant Diseases • Rice Blast • Stem Rust • Wheat Stem Rust