Gonzaga Debate Institute 2010

***TERRORISM***

Terrorism Turns Hunger/Biodiversity

A terrorist attack would target animals kills the agriculture industry and devastates biodiversity
Baker 1 [Chris, Washington Times reporter, “Farms targets for terror?; Livestock illness seen as weapon”, lexis]

A germ warfare attack on farm animals instead of humans is a rapidly emerging threat, and recent livestock epidemics like foot-and-mouth disease show just how fast and far "agro-terrorism" could spread. Instead of using anthrax to make people sick, terrorists might try to infect animals with diseases like the foot-and-mouth virus, which has devastated Britain's farming industry, said Mark Urlaub, director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's biosecurity program. Agro-terrorism would have "instantaneous effects on the economy," Mr. Urlaub told a conference on terrorism preparedness in Salt Lake City last week. "We are talking about enormous values in commodities lost . . . . It can destroy trade relations between countries," he said. Animal diseases have become a big concern for the $55 billion-a-year livestock industry in the United States. Investigators are taking another look at the 1989 "medfly" outbreak in California, he said. The Mediterranian fruit fly, which attacks more than 250 species of fruits and berries, is regarded as the biggest agricultural threat in California, home to a $25 billion-a-year farming industry. The "bizarre" pattern of the 1989 outbreak combined with at least one fringe group claiming responsibility left terrorism experts wondering, Mr. Urlaub said. "It could well have been an intentional introduction," he said. The United States has not had a confirmed case of foot-and-mouth disease, sometimes called hoof-and-mouth disease, since 1929. But the virus would cost the country $5 billion in cattle and pork exports if it were to spread here, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), has never been reported in this country, although similar diseases in elk and sheep have been confirmed. Foot-and-mouth and BSE have swept Europe in recent years. Britain alone has confirmed 1,541 cases of foot-and-mouth disease and 180,000 cases of BSE-infected cattle. A swine epidemic, thought to be unintentional, killed 4 million animals in Taiwan before it was brought under control, Mr. Urlaub said. "The virus blew across the island in six weeks," he said. Foot-and-mouth disease - which does not harm humans - can be carried by the wind, clothing, shoes and farm equipment. Researchers believe the brain-destroying BSE disease spreads when cattle eat the ground remains of other cattle. The human version of BSE is spread when people eat infected beef, researchers believe. The federal government has tried to keep the diseases from surfacing in the United States here through stronger restrictions on travelers from overseas and tight controls on animal feed and meat imports. The Department of Agriculture said Wednesday it will add canine-sniffing dogs and extra security at the Salt Lake City International Airport in February when that city hosts the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. But it is almost impossible to prevent terrorists from bringing diseases like foot-and-mouth to the United States, according to Niall Finnegan, director of governmental relations for the American Veterinary Medicine Association. He said the foot-and-mouth virus - which causes lesions in the mouths of cloven-hooved animals - could be introduced in the United States with "relative ease." A terrorist could swipe the tongue of an infected animal in Europe, place the sample in a vial and then travel to an American farm or feed lot and release it into the mouth of a healthy animal, Mr. Finnegan said. "It's that simple. . . . It would be hard for any country to stop that," he said. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which would work with the Department of Agriculture and other groups to contain an animal-disease outbreak, said the FBI is responsible for tracking the threat of agro-terrorism in the United States. FBI spokesman Steven Barry said he could not comment on whether the agency has investigated threats of agro-terrorism in the United States. But he said it is "an investigative priority" for the agency and "will remain so." The 40,000-member National Cattlemen's Beef Association said it would be "extremely difficult" for a terrorist to bring a disease like foot-and-mouth into the United States, according to spokeswoman Carole duBois. For example, research indicates heat and light cankill the foot-and-mouth virus, which makes it hard for it to be smuggled across U.S. borders, she said. The association has warned its members to not let strangers onto their farms and feedlots, she said. Association leaders also speak daily with government officials to receive updates on disease monitoring. "We are dedicating a lot of resources to ensure these animal diseases stay out of the United States," she said. Domestic terrorists already have shown that agricultural stations are tempting targets. Groups like Reclaim the Seeds and Earth Liberation Front, which oppose genetically modified plants, have broken into laboratories in California to destroy research plants. Other groups have fire-bombed facilities. "Lack of human casualties has been a matter of luck," Mr. Urlaub told the Salt Lake City terrorism-preparedness conference.

Terrorism Turns Disease

Terrorist attacks would include the use of diseases---increases the risk of spread
Dunn et al. 05 [Mark, Kate Jones, Shaun Phillips, Herald Sun, Lexis]

COUNTER-terror authorities have drawn up plans to defend Australia against terrorists spreading avian influenza. The National Counter Terrorism Committee has included the use of bird flu strain H5N1 as a weapon in possible terrorism attack scenarios, Attorney-General Philip Ruddock's office confirmed. "It certainly is factored into the counter-terrorism plan," Mr Ruddock's spokeswoman said. Australia joins the US and Canada in treating bird flu as a possible "agri-terrorism" weapon against the West. The H5N1 strain -- the most virulent type of bird flu -- has so far claimed more than 60 lives in Asia. If the strain mutates into a human-to-human virus, the World Health Organisation has warned millions could die. A quarantine official said flights from countries that had detected H5N1 were closely monitored. Thermal scanners for detecting passengers with a fever are on stand-by at Australian airports in the event of a pandemic. As bird flu fears spread around the world, the Herald Sun can reveal Melbourne Commonwealth Games organisers have taken out insurance worth hundreds of millions of dollars in case the Games are cancelled. Under the national pandemic response plan, mass gatherings can be cancelled. Health Minister Tony Abbott's office confirmed Victorian authorities were aware of the potential impact of bird flu. "It would have to be at a stage in the pandemic where big public assemblies would be very dangerous in terms of spread of infection," spokeswoman Kay McNiece said. Scientists fear the disease has spread from Asia to poultry in Europe and South America. In developments yesterday: TURKEY reported bird flu at a farm where 1800 birds died last week. HUNDREDS of chickens in Colombia were quarantined after health authorities found the first suspected cases of bird flu. BULGARIAN authorities tested three dead birds for the virus. SURVEILLANCE in Papua New Guinea has been increased as the wild bird migratory season towards Australia begins. Sources said the threat of terrorists using bird flu should not be overstated, but counter-terror agencies around the world have factored it into their scenarios. Al-Qaida is known to have considered agricultural and biological terrorism, including a plot to infect tons of cocaine with a poison and then sell the drug in the US. Six of al-Qaida's September 11 hijackers had some form of agricultural training and had learned to fly crop-duster aircraft. Canada's intelligence service, the J2 Directorate, has also warned of the potential for terrorists to use bird flu. While scientific opinion differs on how easy it may be to use it as a weapon, J2 analysts found the development of a man-made strain capable of triggering a human flu pandemic was possible.