UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Greater resources are needed to prevent and respond to potential terrorist attacks against Pennsylvania agriculture, a group of Penn State faculty experts and administrators recently told state legislators. This investment also would contribute to agricultural efficiency and profitability by increasing security against naturally occurring or unintentionally introduced biological threats, they said.

Among those testifying at a hearing on agroterrorism before the House Veterans Affairs and Emergency Response Committee were Robert Steele, dean of Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences; Bruce McPheron, the college's associate dean for research and graduate education; Bhushan Jayarao, assistant professor of veterinary science; Frederick Gildow, professor of plant pathology; and David Filson, Penn State Cooperative Extension emergency response coordinator and director of extension's South Central Region.

"It is important that we have intervention programs in place to deal with acute episodes," Steele testified. "More important, however, is to have longer range programs in place that are more preventative. Prevention is far more effective and less costly in the long run than is intervention.

"We at Penn State and the College of Agricultural Sciences have cutting-edge capability in both intervention and preventative aspects of agricultural security," he continued. "However, more resources are required to ramp up these efforts so that our discovery research, education and technology transfer capacity can match the pace required of these efforts."

Jayarao told the committee that the introduction of foreign animal diseases into the United States could be devastating to Pennsylvania's food system and economy. "American agriculture is highly sophisticated. However, it still remains vulnerable to introduction of foreign animal disease."

Among the diseases of great concern are African swine fever, foot-and-mouth disease and bovine spongiform encephalopathy, sometimes referred to as "mad cow disease." "Allowing a foreign disease agent into our livestock could have disastrous effects on all aspects" of our food system, from on-farm production, food processing and retailing to consumer safety and confidence, he said.

Jayarao said foreign disease organisms could enter the country with imported animals or animal-based food products, insects and migratory birds, used farm machinery or feedstuffs. "Travelers who do not respect customs regulations or do not declare their goods pose the greatest source of risk," he said.

Gildow warned the committee of the potentially far-reaching effects that an introduced plant pathogen could have on agricultural crops. "The deliberate release of a super virulent or genetically modified plant pathogen able to destroy large areas of a major food crop could have long-lasting economic and psychological effects," he said. "Immediately following the release of the pathogen, growers would suffer economic losses associated with increased costs of attempted control measures. At the end of the season, growers would suffer reduced yields for sale.

"In some cases, the occurrence of a new pathogen may trigger quarantine embargoes, eliminating national or international markets. If the pathogen produces a toxin, public confidence in food safety could become an issue."

Gildow said to achieve adequate levels of biosecurity for Pennsylvania crops, additional state funding is needed for university research and infrastructure. "Improved disease diagnostic facilities...(and) biocontainment facilities are required," he said. "We need support to educate and train personnel in biosecurity. We need to develop a secure communications network with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, with regional and county-based surveillance personnel and with other diagnostic labs located at land-grant universities. Support of research on plant disease resistance...is needed in order to identify naturally occurring resistance genes against major foreign pathogens."

Filson emphasized Penn State Cooperative Extension's long tradition of helping the state's citizens deal with emergency situations. "Extension has a network of communications (satellite downlinks, computers) in every county...that allows rapid, two-way communications and sharing of important information," he told the committee. "Extension has the local community contacts that prove vital for rapid response. County extension educators are connected to the local emergency management office, to local elected officials and to other local agencies, and are the closest connection to producers and processors." Filson pointed out that a local extension educator has been appointed to serve as an emergency response contact in each county and cited the university-based knowledge and expertise that extension can offer in emergency situations. "Through their research and subject-area knowledge, these faculty provide information to not only the extension system, but to other agencies such as the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and the Centers for Disease Control."

McPheron warned against complacency in protecting the food and fiber system from potential terrorist attack. "Pennsylvania is a national and international leader in production of many commodities," he testified. "In addition to production of agricultural commodities and the processing of these commodities into products that fill our grocery shelves, Pennsylvania also stands at a strategic point for distribution, with 40 percent of the nation's population lying within a 500-mile radius of Harrisburg. This combination of production, processing and distribution is unique and -- for someone intent upon food or fiber as a target for disrupting the economy and society -- places Pennsylvania in the cross-hairs.

"We need to examine the potential threats to agriculture and make strategic investments that will boost our readiness to detect and respond to an intentional disruption of our agricultural system," he said. "Key areas to consider lie in communication, coordination among the responders and decision makers, technical tools available to us for response and mitigation, and the human resources we have available to commit to the battle."

McPheron stated that such investments will pay dividends for agriculture and the state's economy even if no act of terrorism occurs. "The agents that we fear in a terrorist act may well be the agents that we face due to natural or accidental introduction. Diseases and pests are a constant threat to production of an affordable and safe food and fiber supply. Diagnostic tools need to be invented and refined through basic research and deployed to protect agriculture. The tools we need encompass the full range of threats, from the farm to the forest to the family dinner table."

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Contact:

Chuck Gill cdg5@psu.edu 814-863-2713 814-863-9877 fax #247