Protecting US food supply from bioterrorism threats

By elizabeth Bobenhausen poultry times staff ebobenhausen@poultrytimes.com

This is the fourth in a series from Poultry Times regarding the importance of security. This article deviates from farm biosecurity and focuses on bioterrorism, cyber and other threats potentially posed to the nation’s food supply.

GAINESVILLE, Ga. — Bioterrorism can be a threat to America’s food supply. John Hopkins University describes bioterrorism as “an act or threat of deliberate contamination of food for human consumption with chemical, biological or radio nuclear agents for the purpose of causing injury or death to civilian populations and/ or disrupting social, economic or political stability.”

They explain that terrorists can attack the food supply by “targeting livestock and crops during production, harvesting, storage or transport. This is called “agricultural bioterrorism” or “agroterrorism.” Terrorists could also “target processed foods during the processing, manufacturing, storage, transport, distribution or service of such foods” according to John Hopkins. This is called “terrorism targeting processed foods.”

The Biden White House released a memorandum in regards to the national security risk of the American food chain stating “Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats that may result in high-consequence and catastrophic incidents affecting the food and agriculture sector include but are not limited to: hazardous contaminants such as poisonous agents including toxic industrial compounds and materials, toxins, and chemical agents and precursors; natural or genetically engineered pests and pathogens of livestock, poultry, fish, shellfish, wildlife, plants, and insects; and physical effects of nuclear detonations or dispersion of radioactive materials.”

Threats

The most common threats to the food supply are chemical threats, biological threats, radioactive/nuclear threats and cyber threats. Food Docs defines a chemical threat as “Chemical contaminants are inorganic or organic compounds that are toxic and can cause harm to consumers when present in foods.” The use of biological weapons has been around for centuries. The United States Department of Homeland Security defines a biological threat as the intentional release of a pathogen (disease causing agent) or biotoxin (poison- ous substance produced by a living organism) against humans, plants, or animals. According to John Hopkins University, the type of contaminated food or the type of agent that is used will determine how slow or fast an epidemic could be. The World Health Organization that nuclear or radioactive threats are “radioactive nucleotides that can be discharged into the environment from industries and from civil or military nuclear operations, food allergens, residues of drugs and other contaminants incorporated in the food during the process.”

Cyber threats have become the newest threat to the food supply. Spiceworks.com that cyber threat is a “malicious act intended to steal or damage data or disrupt the digital wellbeing and stability of an enterprise.” Esentire.com states that the most frequent cyberattacks in the food industry are ransomware and stolen data that is being sold on the dark web.

Attacks and accidents

During early February of this year, a trained derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. The train was carrying vinyl chloride which is used to make plastics. The government of Ohio decided to do a controlled burn of toxins, releasing them into the air. The New York Times reported farmers started to worry about their livestock and businesses. In the article, a farmer by the name of Ms. Milbuck said she had to put her turkey on antibiotics because it developed respiratory issues. She said her chickens were also laying eggs with a purple shade on them.

According to Oxford University Press, a new cult was founded by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh in 1981. He was from India. The cult believed in finding peace and enlightenment. The group bought a 60,000-acre ranch in North Central Oregon, which was near the city of Dalles. After developing their own society on the ranch, the cult wanted electoral control of the town of Antelope in Wasco County, and they received it. The cult took over the town to fit its belief system and renamed it Rajneesh. Although, they wanted more control. They decided to run for county boards and commissions, but the people of Wasco County did not want the cult members to run. In 1984, the cult wanted to reduce the number of voters in the county, so they put the bacteria Salmonella in the salad bars of ten restaurants, and 700 townspeople became ill, but fatalities never occurred. Among those 700 people were town officials. One individual who was not supposed to be infected was the U.S. Attorney General, Charles Turner. The cult planned to shoot him. The cult had acquired the bacteria over counter at a Seattle Scientific Supply House. There was evidence that they also possessed the AIDS/HIV viruses. After blaming top ranking members of the cult for the poisonings, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh went back to India. Seven members cult members were indicted for attempted murder and conspiracies. Other members ran to Germany, but in 2005 they returned and surrendered

(Continued on next page)