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| navigate: home: magazine: fall 2002: article | |
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Seminar targets threat of bioterrorism By Gary Abdullah and Steve Infanti | ||||||||||||
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Bioterrorism is a frightening new word for many Americans. But experts at a Penn State seminar said farmers can use existing techniques to lessen risks. Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Samuel E. Hayes Jr. said the state’s farmers and food processors are generally well prepared for a terrorist attack, but both the state and the nation need more laboratories to combat bioterrorism that targets agriculture. Speaking at Risk Management and the Threat of Bioterrorism in the Food System, a seminar sponsored by Penn State Executive Programs in The Smeal College of Business and the College of Agricultural Sciences, Hayes was joined by national experts in bioterrorism, agroterrorism and biosecurity to discuss the threats to the nation’s food supply. The seminar is part of Executive Programs’ “Hot Topics” seminar series, designed to keep executives and organizations at the forefront of best leadership practices and world-class business models. “Global events, technological advances and breakthrough research in best practices impacts executives at all levels of responsibility,” Dr. Christopher von Schirach-Szmigiel, associate dean for executive education, said. “Sometimes the speed of change in business accelerates the need to know and react for managerial excellence. These ‘Hot Topic’ seminars will better serve the needs of our clients in this area.” The “Hot Topics” seminars allow the University to bring together experts from across academia, industry and government agencies, thereby creating a customizable platform made up of thought leaders to address issues relevant to the management of corporations and government organizations. “Organizations and industries face specific issues or challenges that impact it as a whole, either on an internal or external level. These seminars will help them maintain that competitive edge,” Schirach-Szmigiel said. During his presentation, Hayes pointed out that recent accidental outbreaks of mad cow disease and foot-and-mouth disease in other countries have increased U.S. farmers’ awareness and provided a jump start on dealing with accidental or intentional disease threats here. “Every day, agriculture is faced with diseases that can attack our plant and animal kingdom,” Hayes said. “So the agricultural sector is probably in a good position as part of our domestic economy; we have been out front and continue to do quite well. While agriculture has probably done more than any other sector, there are still risks, and we have to work every day to minimize them.” Hayes said he has requested $10 million in the department’s budget to build three diagnostic laboratories capable of quickly and effectively identifying plant and animal diseases that could ravage the state’s agricultural economy. He said the state is woefully deficient in biosecurity laboratories capable of handling diseases such as anthrax. The state, according to Hayes, also should press the development of vaccines for foreign animal diseases, build a more robust biosecurity infrastructure for food processors and increase consumer awareness of potential food-safety threats. “You could take down our nation’s agricultural industries very quickly without effective biosecurity defenses and a quick emergency response,” Hayes said. “That would mean no milk, ham, poultry, meats or eggs. A nation without those commodities is obviously at risk.” Seminar keynote speaker Ernest Del Bueno Jr., vice president of the crisis management firm Rowan & Blewitt Inc., offered biosecurity tips for food-processing companies drawn from more than 20 years of experience as a crisis manager, public affairs coordinator and antiterrorist planner. He said most food processors already have food recall plans, but may need to prepare an umbrella crisis management plan. “Food security is really nothing more than another form of food safety, and it uses many of the same principles and procedures,” Del Bueno said. “Instead of guarding your process against contamination from the inside, food security prevents someone from contaminating the product from the outside.” Dr. Nan Hanshaw Roberts, emergency programs coordinator for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal Health and Diagnostic Services, described the state’s preparations against agroterrorism. They include the Emergency Management Stakeholders Council, which brings together industry and governmental groups and state legislators to protect Pennsylvania livestock by focusing on prevention, preparation, response and recovery. Roberts noted several agroterrorism resources, including an animal emergency e-mail notification system that is available for members of industry, Cooperative Extension agents, veterinarians, food producers, laboratories and other states. Farming’s transition from small, isolated traditional farms with minimal animal or human movement to today’s larger, concentrated animal groups and rapid animal movement is at the root of agriculture’s need for biosecurity, said Dr. Larry Hutchinson, professor of veterinary science at Penn State. “Rapid movement of people and animals means that the whole contamination process can happen quickly,” he said. “Contaminated California vegetables can be in Pennsylvania within five to seven days.” Hutchinson said all farms should have a biosecurity plan that should include methods of restricting entry to production areas, keeping records of medications and health histories, networking with other producers, specific feed handling techniques, access to manure and manure handling, and testing and screening. The plan also will increase food quality assurance and consumer satisfaction, he said. Penn State Executive Programs is planning other “Hot Topics” seminars, including: Managing Risk Exposure on the Web, co-sponsored by Penn State’s eBusiness Research Center and the IBM Advanced Institute of Management; Weather Proof Corporate Results, co-sponsored by the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences; and Rebuilding Trust in Corporate Numbers, co-sponsored by Ernst & Young. “The ‘Hot Topics’ design allows us to include top competencies from universities and merge them with top specialists from industry and government organizations that are active in the area of the topic and the working methods,” Schirach-Szmigiel said. “The seminars will include numerous presentations, panel discussions and group work by attendees so that each participant can focus on the key important messages to take home to their own companies and organizations. Information on “Hot Topics” seminars is available at the Executive Programs Web site at www.smeal.psu.edu/psep/hot.html. An outreach program of Penn State Executive Programs, Smeal College of Business and College of Agricultural Sciences | |||||||||||
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© 2002 Outreach Communications, Outreach & Cooperative Extension, The Pennsylvania State University phone: (814) 865-8108, fax: (814) 863-2765, e-mail: outreachnews@outreach.psu.edu |
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