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I do not
watch many game shows, but it is always interesting to hear the
introduction of the contestants. "Let’s welcome Jane Doe to our
show. Jane hails from Anywhere, USA where she teaches kindergarten for the
intellectually gifted. She holds dual doctorate degrees in physics and
chemistry. She is married to Joe, her wonderful husband of 15 years, and
has two beautiful children. In her spare time she takes food to the
homeless and is working on a way to use atmospheric air to power our
automobiles."
While
terrorists probably do not participate in television game shows, it would
likely be difficult to distinguish them from your average person on the
street, other than an introduction that would go like this, "Let’s
welcome John Doe to our show tonight. He hails from Amarillo, Texas. John
has hated the United States since he was eight-years-old when he did not
get the pony for Christmas he had asked for. John dropped out of medical
school after his third year and has no visible means of income. He holds a
PhD in genetic virology and hopes someday to introduce a virus that will
devastate agriculture. He lives alone and he has not communicated with his
family in 6 years."
Obviously,
we will never hear an introduction such as that for a game show
contestant; however, the fact remains that there are those whose main goal
in life is to disrupt our way of life in this country. For whatever
reason, there are those who hate the prosperity we enjoy here in America.
One of the
areas that sets us apart from the rest of the world is our abundant,
inexpensive, and safe food supply. Not only do we feed ourselves, but we
also feed a good portion of the rest of the world. In my lifetime, I
cannot remember food being in short supply (other than a few times when,
at the end of a quarter in college, I was down to a jar of dill pickles
and a box of crackers).
The point I
am making is that production agriculture has, probably more than anything,
contributed to our prosperity and success as a nation. Because of that
fact, there are certain people who think of ways to disrupt our ways of
life by disrupting agriculture. Evidence of this can be found on the al-Quida
computers in Afghanistan. The computers had many USDA documents that had
been translated into Arabic. Those documents explained how we, the United
States, would deal with a Foreign Animal Disease outbreak. Furthermore, it
is not only people from another country that would seek to do agriculture
harm, but also citizens of our own country with a different agenda have
already been involved in terrorist activities that sabotage agricultural
research and development.
I am
occasionally told by someone that foot and mouth disease is not something
we should worry about since it has not been found in the United States for
over seventy years. That is precisely the reason we should be concerned
about such diseases. Our animal population has no natural immunity to
diseases such as Foot and Mouth Disease, Rift Valley Fever, Nipah Virus,
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, and a number of other diseases that
could not only affect animals, but also human health. With no natural
immunity in our animals, a disease could spread like gossip at a church
picnic (sorry). The old cliché, "An ounce of prevention is worth
a pound of cure" has never been truer.
We have
been actively encouraging awareness to potential terrorism since the
tragedy of 9-11. Awareness involves paying attention to what goes on
around us. Ignoring things that do not seem exactly right certainly opens
the door to terrorist acts. We need to not only notice, but also report
actions such as an unusual vehicle parking on or near a farm. If a
stranger is asking a lot of questions about a farm or agricultural
operation, it could be someone who wishes to make an offer to buy the
place—but it could be someone with bad intentions. If you think
something doesn’t seem right, report it to the authorities. Don’t be
the person who, after the event says, "I saw that strange truck
parked at the chicken houses and I thought something wasn’t right. I
guess I should have reported it."
Whether
intentional or by accident, we must be vigilant about the introduction of
foreign animal diseases into our country. There are certain occurrences
that should be reported to someone, either your local veterinarian or to
our office. If you experience larger than normal die-offs, it should be
reported. If you have six adult cows that were fine yesterday and today
you find them dead, that should be reported and investigated. Other events
that should send up a red flag are neurological problems, abortion storms,
a large percentage of animals becoming sick, and any disease in which the
animal has vesicles (blisters) around the mouth or feet.
Through a
partnership between the Alabama Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and
the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries, we have enhanced our
laboratory capabilities for early detection and are working on response
plans should an agro-terrorism event occur. We are very appreciative of
the fact that the Alabama DHS recognizes the importance of agriculture in
our state and has become a strong supporter in our efforts. We are
acquiring equipment, developing emergency plans, exercising our plans, and
working to get the National Animal Identification System implemented. All
of this will help us in the event of an act of agroterrism.
We are more
prepared today than we were yesterday and will be more prepared tomorrow
than we are today, but we continue to ask you to keep your guard up. If it
looks like a duck, if it walks like a duck, and if it quacks like a duck,
then it’s probably a duck…..just make sure the feathers are real. If
you have questions or need to report anything, my number is 334-240-7253.
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