Page 4 The Behrend Beacon University hopes to head off attacks on crops, livestock by Alexandra Witze The Dallas Morning News Think about bioterrorism, and you probably picture anthrax, smallpox, or other horrible diseases ravaging humanity. But people aren't the only possible targets of bioterrorists. So are the plants and livestock that feed the nation. As public-health experts scramble to prepare for deadly attacks on humans, agricultural experts have been bracing for the possibility of terrorism in the fields. Texas, with its $l2 billion agricultural industry, is help ing lead the fight. In particular, Texas A&M University hopes to be come a national powerhouse in farmland defense. In December, the university’s board of regents voted to approve the creation of a new, wide-ranging Institute for Countermeasures Against Agricultural Bioterrorism - an idea that took root two years ago. If established, the institute would bring together ex- perts in farming, research, and emergency management. It would coordinate responses to terrorist attacks with other states, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and with other government agencies. The federal government may soon have a large pot of money to finance such work. Bills pending in both houses of Congress propose giving a total of $5O mil lion annually to three such institutes in the nation. , An extra $3O million would go directly to basic re search dealing with agricultural terrorism. A&M sci entists are already involved with much of that basic Science, says Neville Clarke, the administrator who is flrawing up plans for the proposed new institute in pollege Station. j Researchers would be charged with finding ways to hddress the frightening “what-if' scenarios, he adds. j For instance, terrorists could release an animal dis ease inside an auction house, just before livestock is Shipped all over the country. Or they might use crop pusters to spray the fungus that causes wheat smut dis ease over fields. Agroterrorists could even wreak havoc {without entering the country, by contaminating im ported fertilizer, straw, or animal feed with a biologi- pal weapon. A&M wants to stop such disasters before they hap pen. Ideally, the new institute would develop broad solutions that could work for different agricultural at tacks - solutions “that don’t have to be changed every lime the bad guy decides to change the bug,” says esents. com WWW. Clarke History shows that the bad guys have plenty of ways to attack During World War 11, the Germans researched dis eases and insects that could kill enemies' potato or wheat crops. During the 1980 s, the Iraqis worked on wheat ‘Just one well-placed attack might be enough to render a country helpless - especially if it depends on one major food crop. ’ smut as a weapon, possibly to be used on wheat in Iran, where it is a staple. Even the United States has devel oped agricultural weapons: herbicides designed to be sprayed on opium and coca crops. Just one well-placed attack might be enough to ren der a country helpless - especially if it depends on one major food crop, says Mark Wheelis, a microbiologist at the University of California, Davis. "There are many reasons why the agricultural sector is extremely vulnerable to an attack of biological weap ons,” says Wheelis. A terrorist might find it safer to work with an animal disease than a contagious human disease. He might mask the attack as a natural outbreak of some exotic disease. And he might find it easier to attack an unpro tected field than, say. a crowded shopping mall. (The USDA has stepped up security measures at border cross ings and food-processing plants since the Sept. 11 ter rorist attacks.) Fortunately, scientists have a lot of experience fight ing agricultural diseases. The same surveillance net works that detect naturally introduced disease could also be used to discover a terrorist attack, says Clarke. Such an attack wouldn't kill civilians directly. But it could trigger an economic collapse, such as the United Kingdom experienced last year after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease among livestock. More than 4 million animals had to he slaughtered, anti hillions of minis Friday, January 18, 2002 -Mark Wheelis, a microbiologist at the University of California, Davis. dollars were lost when tourism dropped off. Were foot-and-mouth disease to enter the United States, it could cost $2O billion over 15 years, says A&M chemist Jim Wild. A crop disease such as soybean rust, an exotic fungus that attacks soybean plants, could cost $8 million annually. (Currently, inspectors must ship tissue samples to the USDA laboratory on Plum Island, N.Y., to diag nose an exotic animal disease - a process that can take days.) “In the case of foot-and-mouth, 24 hours could make millions of dollars of difference,” says Adams, who vis ited England to see the devastated farms. A&M is already working on about $lO million worth of such counterterrorism research. “There’s a fairly large background for Texas A&M to be involved in something like this,” Clarke says. For instance, Wild has worked for years to develop chemicals that could be used to protect people - or ani mals - from nerve gas attacks. The chemicals work to break down the toxins of organophosphates, a class of chemicals used mainly as insecticides but sometimes as chemical weapons. The research was started to help people such as sol diers on the front lines who might be exposed to nerve gas. But the research can also be applied to livestock, says Wild. “A year ago, we would not have thought about the need to protect cattle from neurotoxins,” he says. Other basic research includes the study of how destructive pathogens spread. Microbiologist §uresh Pillai is developing ways to detect viruses and other possible biological weapons in the air. Scientists need better methods for testing the air around cropland or in buildings, he says. The Inside Story On the outside, it's easy to see that Celica is race-track inspired. But the real excitement is on the inside...under the hood. Take the Celica GT-S...Toyota worked with Yamaha to build a 180 HP engine redlined at 7800 RPM...equipped it with Variable Valve Timing with computer that constantly monitors and retunes your engine for maxi mum performance...a cam with two sets of lobes to provide two ranges of valve lift and duration for more usable horse power. There's direct ignition for greater reliability... iridium-tipped spark plugs for reduced maintenance...a stainless steel exhaust manifold...a water-cooled oil cooler. And mated with Toyota's 4-speed electronically-controlled automatic "Sportshift", you get transmission shift switches on the steering wheel...just like Formula 1 race cars. Sweet. Guy Reschenthaler, Wire Service Editor The best way to pre vent such disaster is to spot outbreaks as early as possible, argues Garry Adams, associate dean of research and graduate studies at A&M. For instance, re searchers are working on hand-held devices that could diagnose foot-and mouth disease in a matter of minutes in the field. Celica- “We should not have waited this long to do this type of work,” he says, noting that the federal anthrax in vestigations have been hampered by not knowing how the bacterium spread. The new institute at A&M could also design futuris tic devices to help monitor the health of crops, Clarke says. He envisions genetically engineering plants so that they change color in the presence of a particular patho gen; satellites could then be used to detect those color changes over a large area. Or scientists could build a hand-held sensor to test for the presence of hundreds of biological or chemical agents in the field; a farmer could hold it up and know instantly why crops were ailing. Such technologies need to be inexpensive or they won’t be practical for using on crops and animals, Clarke notes. And the research would have to be part of a well-organized system in which farmers, ranchers, extension agents, and law enforcement officials coop erate. In June, A&M got a taste of what the new institute's future might be like. A group, established by Gov. Rick Perry to study the state’s response to exotic animal dis eases, staged a mock outbreak of foot-and-mouth dis- The team discovered some crucial gaps in the state's emergency response, says Adams. Among them: the unforeseen reluctance of farmers and ranchers to al low their livelihood to be destroyed in the name of pub lic health. During the simulation, officials demanded that Adams give up his research team’s prize bull, which was hy pothetically infected with foot-and-mouth. He refused. The bull was a $3 million clone of a naturally disease resistant animal; it represented two decades’ worth of research. Such tests point out the flaws so that experts can fix them, Adams says. In his case, emergency officials had to get legal authority to wrest the “infected” bull away. Preparation is the only way to protect against agri cultural attacks, Adams says. “There’s nothing like the actual event to really crys tallize things,” he says. “But hopefully we will never have that occur.” www.gettoyota.com Driving a new Toyota is easier than ever - because now your Toyota dealer has a special college graduate financing program available thru Toyota Financial Services that offers a lot of great advantages. So if you're within 4 months of graduation... or if you graduated within the past two years... See your Toyota dealer for details.
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