UC guards against agroterrorism

A terrorist attack on U.S. food or water supplies is a terrifying thought, but a very real possibility. A team of UC scientists who are part of the Western Institute for Food Safety and Security (WIFFS) are working to protect American agriculture from hostile threats, reported Chris Macias of the Sacramento Bee.

The scientists prepare for worst-case scenarios, such as a hypothetical foot-and-mouth disease outbreak caused by a terrorist planting the virus in a livestock enclosure.

“Say it happens in a major feed yard on I-5 or Highway 99,” said Bennie Osburn, WIFFS director of outreach and training. "They'll stop all traffic. I mean, nothing will move in or out of there. What do you do about the milk from these dairies? What do you do about getting feed? Most large dairies only have enough feed for two or three days.”

The article says agroterrorism has been used as a weapon throughout history. In 600 B.C., Assyrians poisoned the wells of their enemies with ergot fungus. Dead bodies were used to contaminate wells in 1155 during the battle of Torona in Italy. In World War I, German agents infected horses and livestock owned by the Allied armies with glanders, an infectious bacterial disease.

WIFFS scientists puzzle out the possible strategies hostile persons or powers could use to target U.S. agriculture, and how such actions can be foiled.

"We look at the potential ways in which crops or animals could be given some kind of disease agent that would create a major catastrophic event,” said Osburn. “There's concern about botulism, for instance, getting in the food supply or ricin.”

WIFFS scientists are conducting field and laboratory studies with these scenarios in mind.

“The veterinary school plays a big role, and certain disciplines work well with this: epidemiology, modern genetic testing of foods,” Osburn said. “(Our) diagnostic labs can look for toxins quickly and we're networked with all the major federal agencies. There's a constant exchange of information.”

The Western Institute for Food Safety and Security team at UC Davis.

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