David Filson, extension’s emergency response coordinator

The invaders snuck into the orchard undetected. Armed with a plant pathogen and the means to deliver it, they infected the orchard with a virus that can render fruit unmarketable, necessitating the destruction of thousands of trees and costing growers millions of dollars in losses.

This scenario took place in Pennsylvania in 1999, when the plum pox virus, which infects stone fruit such as peaches and nectarines, was detected for the first time in North America in Adams County. Federal, state, and local officials, Penn State researchers and extension educators, and fruit industry representatives quickly mobilized to identify the disease, establish a quarantine area, destroy infected trees, assist affected growers, reassure the public, and implement plans to ensure that the disease didn’t spread to other areas.

The “invaders” in this case were aphids—the natural vectors of plum pox—not bioterrorists. But the response and collaboration that took place among Penn State, the government, and industry would have been virtually the same if the incident had been an act of agroterrorism.

As the nation heightens its vigilance in response to potential threats to homeland security, the College of Agricultural Sciences is focusing its expertise on a wide range of issues and vulnerabilities related to our food system, our natural resources, and our communities. But as some experts in the college point out, much of what currently is being done is not particularly new.

“In many ways, we’re doing what we always have done as a land-grant college of agriculture,” says Bruce McPheron, associate dean for research and graduate education. “Our research and extension programs are designed to contribute to the economical production of safe and affordable plant and animal products. Diseases and pests are a constant threat to that production. The agents that we fear in a terrorist act may well be the agents that we face due to natural or accidental introduction, so the science and protocols needed to deal with them are virtually identical. In any situation, we need to quickly identify the problem, respond, and recover. When we improve our defenses against agroterrorism, we contribute to the ongoing safety of our food supply and to the profitability of agriculture, whether a terrorist act occurs or not.”

Indeed long before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks brought the term “homeland security” into the popular lexicon, the college’s research and outreach arms were dealing with problems common to many natural disasters, emergencies, and disease outbreaks—the same problems likely to arise from an intentional act of bioterror.

In addition to responding to the 1999 plum pox outbreak, college specialists in the last decade alone have:

• educated livestock producers about biosecurity to help keep domestic and foreign animal diseases, such as foot-and-mouth disease, from gaining a foothold and/or spreading in the United States
• helped contain avian influenza outbreaks, potentially saving the state’s poultry industry millions of dollars
• provided information and expertise that helped minimize the effects of droughts and floods on farm businesses, families, and communities
• collaborated with state and local officials to reduce the risk of West Nile encephalitis by monitoring for, and disseminating information about, the virus and the mosquitoes that spread it
• developed programs at the farm, processing, and consumer levels to help keep potentially harmful pathogens out of the food supply

Research and extension programs conducted by Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences have played a role in addressing many biosecurity-related issues, including avian influenza; foot-and-mouth and other foreign animal diseases; West Nile virus; and plant diseases, such as plum pox.

Penn State Cooperative Extension has been at the forefront of these efforts. “Cooperative extension is uniquely positioned to respond to emergencies,” says David Filson, program leader for extension dairy programs and the organization’s statewide emergency response coordinator. “We have a network of educators around the state, with an office in every county. We also have a communications system—including a statewide computer network and satellite downlink facilities in nearly every county—that gives us the capacity to send and receive information very quickly. But with the added threat of terrorist attacks against our farms, food system, and water supplies, we felt the need to enhance our emergency preparedness and response capabilities.”

As a result, emergency response contacts have been named in every county extension office and in each of extension’s six regions. A task force of Penn State faculty and extension specialists also has been assembled to lend expertise in response to a wide variety of potential emergencies.

“Extension is a key partner in local and statewide emergency planning,” Filson says. “In the event of a natural or man-made emergency, the county emergency management office would set the wheels in motion. Relevant state and federal agencies—such as the Pennsylvania and U.S. agriculture departments, the state health department, state Emergency Management Agency, state Department of Environmental Protection, and others—would be contacted. If the emergency involves an attack or other event that affects the food system, for instance, cooperative extension would be called in quickly to provide information and assist with communication.

“Depending on the need, that information and expertise can cover a range of agricultural and consumer issues,
including farm biosecurity, plant and animal health, risk management, food safety and human health, and family and household management,” he adds.

Critical to an emergency response is the ability to communicate with those directly affected, as well as those not yet affected but who may be at risk. When it comes to threats against animal agriculture operations scattered over hundreds of square miles in mostly rural areas—some of which may not even be known to officials—the task of communicating is daunting. To help streamline the process of responding to livestock disease outbreaks, Penn State Cooperative Extension’s Geospatial Technology Program has partnered with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture to create a mapping database of animal operations across the state.

The Pennsylvania Animal Health Emergency Response and Diagnostic System (PAHERDS) incorporates geographic information systems technology to map farm locations and provide information such as animal species, size of the operation, and emergency contact information for each farm. Having these data a few computer keystrokes away will save authorities precious time in contacting producers in the vicinity of a disease outbreak with instructions, precautions, and other critical information to keep the disease from spreading to or from their herds.

“This database really is the first step in establishing in Pennsylvania the livestock identification and tracking system proposed by USDA,” says soil scientist Rick Day, director of the Geospatial Technology Program. “The average animal moves five times from birth to death, and if an animal contracts a disease, we need to be able to trace quickly—within 24 to 48 hours—where that animal has been so that we can look for other livestock it’s been in contact with, as well as identify nearby farms that might be at risk.”

Currently, farmers voluntarily provide information for the database to Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture staff and Penn State Cooperative Extension county-based educators, but Day suspects it may become mandatory. “We need to work with the Pennsylvania legislature to ensure that the farm information collected remains private,” he says. “And farmers need to understand that the database and tracking system will help protect them and their industry.

“Even if there are no bioterror attacks or disease outbreaks, the lack of such a system could have a negative economic impact,” he continues. “Some major users of beef, including large fast-food chains, don’t buy from Pennsylvania producers because there’s no trace-back mechanism. If we can be among the first to implement such a system, Pennsylvania producers will be more attractive to buyers of beef and other animal products.” He expects completion of the database to be a five- to six-year process.

Day also works with local governments across the state to build GIS databases to map infrastructure and resources in communities. “When there’s a disaster, the first thing authorities often look for is maps of resources,” he explains.
“In Centre County, for instance, there are 44 small, independent water companies, most of which have no maps showing the locations of wells, water lines, and similar infrastructure. If a well becomes contaminated overnight, how do you locate the well and bring a replacement water source online? How do you know where to dig to repair lines or install new lines to get water from a neighboring supplier?

Using geographic information systems to quickly reveal the location of municipal infrastructure and natural resources could help emergency management personnel, such as this Blair County 9-1-1 dispatcher, to direct first responders to where they are needed most.

“After tornadoes, sometimes you can’t even tell where a house or other building had been located. By having a map that shows these resources, and a computer system that allows you to retrieve it quickly, 9-1-1 and other local emergency responders may be able to locate and save victims or prevent further damage.”

But before a comprehensive emergency response can be mounted, officials must know what they are dealing with. In the event of a bioterrorism attack or natural disease event, the ability to respond effectively may depend on the capacity to detect and identify the problem quickly. A rapid diagnostic test developed by Penn State veterinary scientists already has paid dividends in curbing avian influenza, a disease that could seriously cripple the state’s $700 million poultry industry and, left unchecked, could mutate into a potentially lethal form that can infect humans. Aided by this test, a 2001 outbreak of low-pathogenic H7N2 avian flu was limited to 140,000 birds and cost the state’s poultry industry only about $350,000.

“Using that test, we were able to diagnose the 2001 problem in just one day, which enabled the state and poultry producers to contain and eliminate the outbreak quickly,” says veterinarian Patricia Dunn, who oversees the avian disease section at Penn State’s Animal Diagnostic Laboratory. “An outbreak of the same virus a few months later in another Mid-Atlantic state took about seven days to confirm, giving the virus more time to spread. As a result, that state lost almost 5 million birds at a cost of $114 million.”

As the 1999 plum pox outbreak illustrated, the intentional or inadvertent introduction of a crop disease organism also can have devastating economic effects. Plant pathologist Seogchan Kang is collaborating with other Penn State researchers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to build a database of plant pathogens that could help officials contain a crop disease event, as well as trace its origin and stop it at its source.

“Increasing interstate and international commerce increases the likelihood of nonnative pathogens being brought in with imported products,” says Kang. “After the September 11 attacks and the subsequent anthrax release, it also became apparent that threats from deliberate releases of pathogens should not be overlooked. We need to develop an effective risk management system to prevent major crop disease outbreaks and to lessen the economic and social impacts that could result.”

Kang says the database will help address a major challenge in identifying, tracking, and managing fungal plant pathogens. Because more than 10,000 fungal species are plant pathogenic, accurate identification of new pathogens can confound even experts. In addition, individual species have numerous distinct strains. “We’re developing a forensic database for fungal plant pathogens, much like the database used by the FBI to match the genetic fingerprints of a crime-scene sample with the DNA of known individuals.

“The main purpose is to trace the origin of the pathogen so we know how to manage it and can stop its movement from that source,” he says. “But if we can use genetic tags to match a suspect pathogen to a closely related strain that’s
already been characterized, we can predict how damaging the outbreak might be, and that will help us assess the risk-benefit ratio of spending resources to eradicate it. In the long run, we hope to add information to the database on pathogen groups other than fungi, including ones affecting human and animal health.”

On the postharvest front, the college’s agricultural and biological engineers are researching advanced sensors that would allow processors to detect contamination, pathogens, spoilage, and other imperfections in fruits and vegetables before the produce gets to market. Joseph Irudayaraj has developed infrared spectroscopy techniques that can help identify harmful microorganisms or chemical agents in food. “Spectroscopy is the interaction of light and matter,” he explains. “Depending on the composition of the samples, different wavelengths of light will be absorbed or reflected, corresponding to specific chemical groups. This leaves us with a ‘fingerprint’ that can tell us if a specific pathogen is present.”

Irudayaraj also is developing optical biosensors that can monitor multiple reactions—technology that could save precious time that otherwise would be spent testing for each potential contaminant separately. “Whenever there’s an interaction, there is a corresponding change in the optical response,” he says. “The idea is to see if we can detect the presence of multiple organisms or toxins in a single pass.”

Agricultural and biological engineer Paul Heinemann uses an “electronic nose” to check apples for the presence of contaminants. New sensor technologies hold promise for quickly detecting a wide range of harmful substances while avoiding damage to produce.

Irudayaraj and Penn State colleague Paul Heinemann were part of a multi-state research group that won a prestigious Secretary’s Award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for its work on advanced sensor technologies. Says Heinemann, “Most of these technologies—such as x-rays, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, infrared spectroscopy, and machine vision—have come from medical disciplines, and their major advantage is that they don’t damage the fruit or vegetables, unlike other laboratory tests that are much slower and result in a waste of produce.”

In recent years, Heinemann has concentrated on applying “electronic nose” technology. “The electronic nose is a device that’s designed to mimic the human sense of smell,” he says. “The one I have been working with has 32 sensors, each sensitive to different compounds. For example, we have used it to detect E. coli on apples. This technology shows promise in detecting the presence of bacteria before fruit or vegetables even go into a processing plant. It will be a first-step filter.”

Another common medical technology that may have homeland security applications is ultrasound, which often is used to image a fetus or a patient’s internal organs. Entomologist Kelli Hoover and environmental toxicologist Nancy Ostiguy are part of a team that devised a method for using ultrasound to kill bacterial spores. The technique, for which a patent is pending, could be used to decontaminate mail—a major concern after the well-publicized 2001 anthrax attacks—or to sterilize surgical equipment, food, or the air handling systems in buildings and airplanes.

Working with Mahesh Bhardwaj, a Penn State graduate who is director of research and development for Ultran Labs, the scientists used high-power, noncontact ultrasound to kill 99.9 percent of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), a bacterium that is commonly used as an insecticide and is a close relative of Bacillus anthracis, or anthrax. “Bt and anthrax differ by only a few genes on their plasmids that encode different toxins,” says Hoover. “If you remove those plasmids, Bt cannot be distinguished from B. anthracis and therefore can serve as a safe model for testing.”

The technique works even without a contact medium, such as water or gel, which is necessary in most low-power, medical uses of ultrasound. In experiments, the researchers placed a paper envelope containing bacterial spores three millimeters from a source of inaudible, high-frequency sound waves for 30 seconds. The tests were the first to show that noncontact ultrasound can inactivate bacterial spores. “We’re currently fine-tuning the process, with an eye toward commercializing the technology,” Hoover says.

Of course, the hope is that many of these new tools never will be needed to detect, diagnose, or remediate a serious disease event or bioterror attack. But skeptics who question whether valuable time, effort, and resources are being spent to develop technologies and practices that we may never use are missing the mark, says Robert Steele, dean of the college. “It’s important that we have intervention programs in place to deal with acute episodes. 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.

“Many of the issues we face today are not new—the burning of crops during Sherman’s march to the sea at the end of the Civil War was a prime example of bioterrorism,” Steele says. “Most problems aren’t solved in one generation. The key to finding solutions is with our youth. As we work to confront the threats and challenges facing agriculture today, the scientists we train through our undergraduate and graduate teaching and research will be the ones to achieve the breakthroughs that will secure our homeland and our food system in the future.”

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Faculty and staff referenced in this article are Bruce McPheron, associate dean for research and graduate education and director of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Experiment Station; David Filson, Penn State Cooperative Extension dairy program leader; Rick Day, associate professor of soil science and environmental information systems; Patricia Dunn, senior research associate in veterinary science; Seogchan Kang, associate professor of plant pathology; Joseph Irudayaraj, associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering; Paul Heinemann, professor of agricultural and biological engineering; Kelli Hoover, associate professor of entomology; Nancy Ostiguy, associate professor of entomology; and Robert Steele, dean.