|
I
recently attended the third annual Agriculture Security Conference in
Birmingham. This was an excellent conference sponsored by the UAB School
of Public Health. There were many other cooperators involved, including
the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries, the Alabama
Department of Public Health and Homeland Security.
As
usual, there were a line-up of world class presentations about the
importance of agriculture and the delicate balance that must exist to
feed and clothe a growing population, not to mention the public health
significance of some zoonotic diseases (diseases shared between animals
and humans). The conference served as an exclamation point to a fact
that I am well aware of — we must remain vigilant against events that
could disrupt agriculture. These events include the resurgence of
diseases like tuberculosis and brucellosis, highly pathogenic avian
influenza or other foreign animal diseases, toxic substances in imported
feeds of food (such as the recent case of melamine in wheat gluten),
agroterrorism and natural disasters.
To
drive home the significance of the challenges we face is the fact that
last year (2006), we, the United States, became a net food importer.
This means that we imported more food than we exported. To put that in
simplest terms, we did not produce enough food to feed ourselves. This
has a great deal to do with the globalization of everything nowadays and
the global economy. It is certainly true that food can be produced more
cheaply in other countries, but it seems a little (or maybe a lot)
dangerous to become reliant upon other countries to produce so much of
the food we consume. That leaves little room for error here in the
United States when it comes to producing food.
As
I mentioned earlier, one of the challenges we face comes in the form of
natural disasters. Recently, Hurricane Katrina would have come to mind
as it took a tremendous toll on cattle, poultry and other agricultural
ventures in the Gulf Coastal area. Today we are very aware that drought
can be even more devastating to agriculture. Most natural disasters
result in some degree of depopulation, then later repopulating. It is in
such times of stress and movement of animals that they may become more
susceptible to disease or even bring a new disease into an area. It is
important to use proven biosecurity practices during and after such
events.
We
in regulatory veterinary medicine guard against those challenges and
events through a number of avenues.
First,
we continually try to tighten our surveillance net by educating
producers to notify us or their veterinarian if they have abnormal or
unusual illnesses or large, unexplained die-offs. We encourage producers
to notify someone if they have animals with central nervous system
diseases, hemorrhagic diseases and vesicular diseases (blisters on lips,
in mouth, on feet and udders). We work with other organizations to help
educate about biosecurity and regulations we have in place concerning
animal disease.
Second,
we work with the local veterinarians to encourage reporting of any
disease signs that could indicate a foreign animal disease. We depend on
the local practitioner to involve us when something out of the ordinary
raises a red flag. That does, however, emphasize the need for more food
animal practitioners to help us guard against the next threat that may
be just around the corner.
A
third line of defense is our laboratory system. Most of our laboratory
veterinarians have been trained in foreign animal disease pathology. In
addition, we have the most modern equipment available. One example is
machines that can detect a disease like avian influenza in a matter of
hours, not days. Our laboratory personnel know how important their role
is in the surveillance puzzle.
Finally,
we have a dedicated field staff whose jobs are primarily disease
surveillance. They are equipped with state-of-the-art equipment that
would allow them to send digital photos to the laboratory to get an
opinion long before tissue samples or a carcass could arrive at the lab.
They also use tools such as quarantines and warnings to make sure the
regulations we have in place to guard against disease are complied with.
Our
system is not perfect — never will be, but we continue to tighten the
surveillance net to keep animal agriculture unhampered by events we can
prevent or at least minimize. With the world population expected to
double in the next 50 years and the need for protein expected to double
in the next 13 years, we do not have room for mistakes. |
