The Threat of Agroterrorism

1. The Threat of Agroterrorism Emily Baker CHSC

2. Importance of US Ag Sector • “U.S. agriculture generates more than $1 trillion per year in economic activity and provides an abundant food supply for Americans and others. • The agricultural industry generates almost one-sixth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs 1 out of every 8 American workers

3. California Agriculture • California remained the No. 1 state in cash farm receipts in 2006, with its $31.4 billion in revenue, representing 13.1 percent of the U.S. total. CFDA Report: http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/files/pdf/card/ResDir07_Overview.pdf

4. California County Total Value and Rank • Monterey – ranked 3rd with $3.49 billion • Key Commodities: Leaf Lettuce, Head Lettuce, Strawberries, Nursery, Broccoli • Risks for Crops: pest organisms, water supply (esp. for organic crops), chemical and biological agents

5. Definition • Agricultural bioterrorism as “the deliberate introduction of a biological agent or bio-toxin, either against livestock or into the food chain, for purposes of undermining stability and/or generating fear.”

6. Effects of successful attack • Local economy • US exports - American agricultural sector accounts for more than $50 billion in exports, or 15% of all global agriculture exports. • Human health and reliable food sources • 1st responders and effect on public health infrastructure

7. Why would terrorists attempt? • Risk of getting caught is low and multiple targets could be hit by one cell • Pathogens are relatively easy and inexpensive to obtain from culture collections or to produce. • Biological agents make for useful weapons due to the fact that they are silent, invisible, and odorless, allowing the attacker to contaminate a food source without leaving any signs of tampering. • Agroterrorism can exploit fundamental national vulnerabilities, like porous border, an open society, and dense population centers, to severely challenge the public health infrastructure.

8. Why is it an ineffective tactic? • Lacks a single, highly visible point of focus for the media, which is a primary consideration in most terrorist attacks. • In order for an agroterrorist attack to be effective, the biological agent must be widely disseminated in order to contaminate multiple targets simultaneously (this is especially true in reference to plant stocks). • In an agroterrorist attack that utilizes food or water as the vector agent, the pathogen can be diluted by the vector.

9. Vulnerabilities of US Ag Sector • A large part of the problem of hardening the agricultural infrastructure is that foodstuffs proceed through several different industries and therefore fall under multiple agencies responsibilities. • Certain pathogens that infect but do not kill livestock can have far more lethal effects on humans. Animal husbandry has weakened livestock’s immune systems.

10. Vulnerabilities (cont.) • Highly concentrated industry - For instance, 70 percent of U.S. beef cattle is raised in an area with a 200 mile radius • This concentration of animals within such a small area results in a multiplying effect. • Food sources lack security and surveillance. • Large herds make outbreaks difficult to identify

11. How to Protect Agriculture • Preventative Measures • identifying potential threats, maintaining a disease outbreaks database, increasing research into bio-agents, educating the agricultural sector • Response Measures • early detection, traceability, predictions of the spread of pathogens, how to contain an outbreak before its impact increases