How Biosecurity Affects Human Health

A number of infectious pathogens exist which could be used to carry out an agroterror attack. The U.S Agricultural Bioterrorism Protection Act of 2002 provides the official list (6) of potential animal pathogens which emergency planners use as a “threat” list for potential response. This list is based upon a list of agents published by the Office International des Epizooites (OIE) (7) also known as the World Organization for Animal Health.

Agroterrorism is a direct attack against livestock or crops in an effort to damage a food supply. An attack against our food supply is an attack on one of the many critical infrastructures that our country has. A successful terrorist attack against this sector would be staggering to the country. In 2001 the food distribution industry registered 9.7 percent of the Nation’s Gross Domestic Product and generated cash receipts that exceeded 991 billion dollars (Chalk, 2003, pg. 3). The food distribution industry also makes up for a significant part of the work force in the United States. This is all effected if we were attacked biologically. The problem with a bio attack on our food supplies is lag time. Lag time is the time it would take for the federal government and general population to realize there is a problem with our food. It would then take a long period of time for the government to trace back the source of the large scale disease outbreak and determine whether it was a naturally occurring event, an accidental exposure, or a malicious attack. During this time food production would have to cease to stop the spread of the illnesses. The country’s finances would then be affected. Not to mention the amount of money it would take to trace the spread back to the source and destroy the livestock or crops responsible to stop the continued spread of disease. Even when food production began again the general population of the country would be leery about buying certain food products at first. This is what happened to the Blue Bell ice cream company after their listeria outbreak. Staggering our food supply and affecting America’s financial stability is exactly what terrorist organizations would love to achieve. In fact in 2002 American and allied troop raided a cave in Eastern Afghanistan and discovered thousands of documents outlining the U.S. agriculture system (Olson, 2012, pg. 1).

•Objective 4.4: Protect agricultural health by minimizing major diseases and pests to ensure access to safe, plentiful, and nutritious food

Smallpox is a highly infectious and fatal disease caused by the Variola virus. It causes extremely painful pustules to sprout across the entire body. Spread from human to human, it has since been eradicated from the world through the efforts of the World Health Organization. However, there is a distinct possibility that it may be reintroduced through bioterrorism. Biological weapons may cause another pandemic to erupt across the world and kill millions of individuals. Through constant vigilance and careful planning, mankind can prevent this scenario.

During our class discussion last week, we discussed Microbes Help Grow Better Crops, by Richard Conniff. In the article by Richard Conniff, he states that, “Adding bacteria to a crop to prevent human disease could be the start of a whole new path to food safety.” This statement by Richard Conniff explains to us the idea of preventing diseases by adding bacteria to a crop. As a result, we will be able to prevent most human diseases from existing in the first place. We as a society haven’t implemented the idea about adding bacteria to crops yet, but suggesting ideas that can help prevent problems for us as a whole is the first step to making our future better for us. Diseases such as, salmonella and E-coli can be prevented with the new understanding

Vulnerability can be explored on two levels, in that it affects certain population groups and its affects individuals. In public health, we try to bridge health disparities and increase health literacy on the population level. The health department addresses the needs of the individual in the clinics and through surveillance and education on the population level. Vulnerable populations are those with a greater than average risk of developing health problems by way of their socioeconomic status, their limited access to economic resources, or their personal characteristics such as age or gender (de Chesnay & Anderson, 2016, p. 5). According to de Chesnay & Anderson (2016), the following groups are considered to be vulnerable (1) High risk mothers

Such phenomena are considered as the consequences of doing violence to nature balance, which functions to control the amount and living area of every species. Carson demonstrates that human’s efforts to mold nature have failed, and it is time to change our environmental philosophy from conquering to protecting. It is suggested that farmers should follow entomologists’ advice and intensively use chemical

When categorizing environmental agents in regard to human health, physical, chemical, and biological agents each pose different and great threats. All can have potentially extremely dangerous short term and long term effects. In my opinion, biological agents pose the greatest threat to human health. It is crucial to point out that circumstantially, any of the three could pose the greatest threat, but in general, I believe biological agents do so. I find biological agents to be the most unavoidable with the most severe consequences, in general, of the three categories.

When dangerous diseases like Ebola and the Zika virus infect large populations of people and becomes a threat to public health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) takes the lead in responding to them. Microbes that fall into the highest level of containment – Biosafety Levels (BSL) three and four – are easily transmissible in the air with little or no treatment available (CDC, “Recognizing Biosafety Levels”). To fight against such threats, the CDC conducts critical research to “track and find what is making people sick and the most effective ways to prevent it” (CDC, “Mission, Role, and Pledge”).

Biological threats to the homeland are one of six strategic challenges outlined in The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) 2014 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review. Biological threats are sometimes viewed as underrated threat to homeland security compared to the threat of terrorism and nuclear weapons. The following will explain the nature the threat of biological weapons pose on the homeland and the ongoing steps the federal government is implementing to meet this challenge.

Throughout the progression of mankind, there has always been a need to become superior in tactics and technology over an opponent. It did not take long for man to discover the effective and deadly tactic of Bioterrorism, which is the deliberate release of viruses, bacteria or other germs used to cause illness or death in people, animals, or plants. As time passes, everything about bioterrorism becomes more and more sophisticated, making it very difficult to combat with. By examining the history of bioterrorism, one can learn how military forces utilize this deadly weapon.

For example, if a large city such as Chicago was to be exposed to a Category A pathogen such as smallpox, an extraordinary demand would be placed upon the medical institutions and their staffs. If a large enough area was to be affected, it would require some sort of quarantine by the military, in order to control the spread of the virus. This action in itself may cause a rise in fear and lead to an overwhelming panic from the people in the area. A complete population terror could arise quickly; causing people to do things such as overgeneralize symptoms and act irrationally in the time of distress. So not only is there a physical stressor present with the use of bio-agents, there is a psychological one as well. It is very difficult to determine when these so called bioterrorism attacks will occur, as they are very hard to predict. However, with all the advancement in research and the number of nations jumping on the bandwagon, it can be assumed more will occur. This means that there should be some type pre-planning done in order to handle a bio-attack

Bioterrorism and Biowarfare are emerging threats for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to learn how to prepare for, and respond to. In actuality, bioterrorism and biowarfare have been around for hundreds of years, but since the anthrax attacks in 2001, it has been brought to the forefront of fighting terrorism for the United States. With the advancement of biotechnology and biochemistry, the threat of a bioterrorist attack on American soil is real and possibly imminent. DHS has had to improve their biopreparedness and find ways to rapidly respond to bioterrorist attacks. A brief history on bioterrorism and biowarfare will help to better understand DHS’ role in preparing for, and responding to bioterrorism.

In our time, bioterrorism is an upcoming threat that is lurking behind the scenes. Even though we are not aware of the dangers and consequences of bioterrorism, the effects of it in the future could be lethal. The anthrax attacks are a perfect example of this. According to the article Anthrax attack on the Capitol, “ The innocent opening of a letter, a routine task that is done millions of times every day in offices across the country, suddenly escalated into a public health crisis that truly frightened many people who work on the Hill,”(Frist). This shows our lack of preparation in terms of working against bioterrorism. In order combat this future threat, The United States

.This field deals with issues that science has difficulties in addressing such as very porous border it is difficult to control infectious diseases, such as quarantine and isolation can be justify where there is risk of harm to others. If we must achieve health care goals and prevent epidemics and spread of diseases in our community, we must know that health policy is very important. Major roles have been promoted as a result of Public health science.