Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension Agroterrorism Presented by:

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension What is it? Agroterrorism involves the act of any person knowingly or maliciously using biological agents as weapons against the agricultural industry and the food supply.

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension People and Animal Problems  Anthrax  Brucellosis  Glanders

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension Animal Problems  Rinderpest  Newcastle disease  Fowl plague

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension Crop Problems  Late blight of potato  Rice blast  Brown spot of rice  Rubber leaf blight  Southern blight  Wheat rusts.

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension Agroterrorism  Possibility?  Probability?

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension Possibility or Probability: The critical issue with agroterrorism is the low level of technical knowledge required to use it.

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension Possibility or Probability: Before Sept the federal government allocated almost $40 million to the USDA for agroterrorism.

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension Motives include  Profit  Anti-GMO  Foreign terrorists

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension Concerns before Sept. 11  Indiana – PL156  Pennsylvania – SB816

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension Indiana Law recognizes agroterrorism as  A crime – Class C Felony  A weapon of mass destruction

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension Pennsylvania Law Mandates payment to the owner of the afflicted animal for: –Value of the animal –Disposal –Testing of the diseased animals –Cost of clean up, including soil testing –Lost value of production

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension Costs? Foot and Mouth -- $2 billion to $24 billion. The problem is that this is based on a natural outbreak. A terrorist would aim for maximum damage.

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension Costs? Dioxin contaminated animal feed in Belgium -- $ 1 billion in damages and trade sanctions. If it had been in the US, $140 billion.

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension Costs? Leaf blight caused $1 billion in crop damages. But if something like it had halted US crop exports, it could cost $100 billion.

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension Experts agree The cost in terms of damages is directly proportional to the time it takes to diagnose the problem.

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension Proof? It has rarely been proven that terrorism has been used against agricultural targets. But let’s look at history…

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension History of agroterrorism WWI – Germany spread glanders disease on mules and horses destined for Europe.

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension History of agroterrorism  WWII – Canada, Great Britain, Japan, the United States, and the USSR had offensive programs. – Germany had no offensive program.

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension History of agroterrorism Japan is alleged to have used animal and plant pathogens, including rinderpest and anthrax, against Russia and Mongolia in 1940s.

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension History of agroterrorism The U.S. scrubbed its biological weapons program in But, it continued defensive research.

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension History of agroterrorism In 1972, the US, Soviet Union, Great Britain, and Canada agreed to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC).

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension History of agroterrorism Soviet BW program grew during the 1970s and 1980s to include more than 30,000 scientists and workers, as well as seven production and two storage facilities.

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension History of agroterrorism Iraq is also known to have developed a BW potential recently, including anti- personnel, animal and crop agents.

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension History of agroterrorism Since 1915, there have been 19 acts of agroterrorism around the world, five of which have taken place in the U.S. Source: Center for Nonproliferation Studies

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension Five cases in the US:  Military animals  1970 Ashville, Alabama  1989 Southern California  1996 Florida  1996 Berlin, Wisconsin

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension Conducted by the US:  1950 East Germany  1952 Korea  Vietnam  Cuba

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension Counterattack  Geography  Timing  Strategy

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension USDA Counterattack  Organism Level  Farm Level  National Level

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension Organism level Continue defensive research on agroterrorism.

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension Farm Level Biosecurity education - farmers - crop and livestock diagnosticians.

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension National Level  Disease eradication  Compensation costs  Restore public confidence

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension Counterattack: Cooperation and consolidation of efforts between all agencies and organizations involved.

Knowledge to Go Purdue Extension Sources:  Anne Kohnen “Responding to the Threat of Agroterrorism: Specific recommendations for the United States Department of Agriculture.”  May 2001 issue of Purdue Agricultural Economics Report (PAER).  Center For Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies