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The
state Department of Homeland Security has issued a statement saying
Alabama farms could become targets of terrorists because the state is a
leading producer of broilers and continues to maintain a respectable
cattle industry.
“Extremists
looking to disrupt the American economy and way of life may turn to
agricultural terrorism because of the low technology nature of the
threat,” the Homeland Security statement said. “Most diseases are
easy to introduce and transmission is easy because there is no need for
weaponization of diseases.”
Importation
of foreign animals infected with lethal diseases is a major concern of
agricultural experts around the country and that is why farmers are
being called on to report anything suspicious in their herds or fields.
In
early 2005, an Alabama farmer noticed that one of his cows had been
acting strangely. The animal was unable to stand and when it could, it
would stagger. The farmer called his veterinarian and the diagnosis
determined it had been infected by Bovine Spongiform
Encephalopathy—also known as “Mad Cow Disease.”
Tests
later showed that the animal was at least 10 years old, meaning it was
probably born before the U.S. Department of Agriculture 1997 feed ban.
The USDA said older animals are more likely to have been exposed to
contaminated feed circulating before its ban on certain feeding
practices.
Alabama
was one of only two states to record a case of BSE in 2005, but there
was no reason to suspect the animals had been deliberately infected by
anyone with evil intentions.
Since
Sept. 11, 2001, however, national attention has been focused on a
variety of ways that terrorists might try to disrupt American commerce,
agriculture, banking and other vital entities.
Two
years after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, U.S.
Senators were told that a simple handkerchief wielded by a
“resourceful terrorist” could cause billions of dollars of damage to
the American food system and untold terror in the nation’s kitchens.
The
Associated Press reported that food experts were pleading that
more attention be paid to the country’s food supply.
Dr.
Tom McGinn of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture told the
Senate group that “we have become a nation concerned about receiving
anthrax in our mailboxes.” He followed with an admonition that
diseases just as deadly as anthrax could, one day, wind up in
refrigerators from coast to coast.
The
Senate group also learned that a terrorist could easily find ways to
spread foot and mouth disease and other infectious illnesses.
U.S.
Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois said, “If you exposed livestock before
they were being shipped back to the farm from a state fair, you would
have dispersed the disease across the state, frankly, in a saddeningly
efficient way.”
Peter
Chalk, a Rand Corp. analyst, said agroterrorism could have a
“devastating effect” on the U.S. economy since food production
accounts for about 10 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product.
“It
could have severe repercussions in terms of galvanizing a mass public
scare throughout the country, particularly if human deaths actually
occurred,” Chalk said. “Terrorists could use this to their
advantage, allowing them to create a general atmosphere of fear and
anxiety without actually having to carry out indiscriminate
civilian-oriented attacks.”
Fields
said any deliberate assault on Alabama agriculture should produce
“obvious signs” along the way including “abortion storms” caused
by diseases.
He
said “common clinical signs” should be evident to farmers. If not,
their veterinarians will have the answers when contacted.
“Neurological
diseases can cause ‘abortion storms’ and mouth blisters on cattle
are clear signs of trouble,” Fields said. “That’s why I spend so
much time in the fields when I’m not speaking to farm groups around
the state.”
Three
components of homeland security are prevention, protection and
response/recovery. Obviously, those in charge of the new program would
rather prevent terrorism from happening that try and recover from it.
The
state’s emergency operations center is located at the Richard Beard
Building in Montgomery, but several mobile units have been purchased to
help serve as the eyes and ears of Alabama agriculture. The units can
respond to problems anywhere in the state and Fields proudly showed off
one of them during the Tuskegee University conference.
The
Alabama Department of Homeland Security is working hard to inform
farmers of the need to be prepared and not to take anything for granted.
The department uses cattle and poultry as examples of two of the
state’s most vulnerable agricultural industries.
“Producers
in each area must become aware of foreign animal diseases and emerging
diseases that may be used as a tool to attack Alabama’s largest
industry,” the department said recently in a statement.
In
addition to awareness, farmers also are being asked to begin using basic
biosecurity practices to lessen the chance of a disease outbreak.
American
agriculture represents a multi-billion dollar industry with millions of
people employed directly or indirectly in farming. That is why federal
and state officials are concerned about the possibility of a terrorist
attack on food supplies.
Viral
outbreaks in recent years have claimed lives as well as livestock. The
number of farms in America may be dwindling, but the number of animals
is growing in concentrated areas—perhaps providing easy targets.
Problems
don’t necessarily have to be caused by agroterrorists, Fields said. It
could result from infections totally unrelated to foreign enemies.
The
most recent examples have been scares over spinach and lettuce in
western states. At least two deaths have been reported and spinach sales
virtually disappeared overnight once word began to spread around the
country. There is no reason to suspect leafy sabotage, but health
officials aren’t taking anything for granted these days.
Fields
said he and other agriculture officials concerned about potential
danger to Alabama farmers will continue to travel the state—sounding
the alarm when appropriate.
“We’re
doing a good job,” he said, “but we need to get better.”
Alvin
Benn is a freelance writer from Selma. |
