FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 25, 2001
Contact: Mark Anthony or Melanie Wilt, ODA Communications, 614-752-9817

 Agriculture Director Reminds Farmers of Biosecurity Responsibilities; Blasts Break-ins by Activists

REYNOLDSBURG – Ohio Agriculture Director Fred L. Dailey said recent break-ins by anti-animal agriculture activists at Buckeye Egg Farm in LaRue and Daylay Egg Farm Inc. in Raymond were “irresponsible,” especially in light of current world issues that call for increased precautions against infectious diseases, and he called on farmers to do more to impede security breaches on their premises.

“When irresponsible activists trespass on livestock and poultry farms, they exhibit a blatant ignorance of the disease threat they pose to other people and animals,” Dailey said of Mercy for Animals, the activist group opposed to animal production who claimed responsibility for the break-ins. “Without proper biosecurity measures, virulent infectious animal diseases can spread quickly, create havoc for our agriculture industry and, in some cases, jeopardize the public’s health. These diseases can be spread intentionally, but when it happens it’s usually accidental. This is no time to take chances.”

Dailey said owners of farms vulnerable to future break-ins should improve biosecurity and physical security measures on their premises and prosecute intruders under appropriate existing laws against criminal trespassing, burglary, theft, and property damage. He urged farmers who suspect tampering or trespassing on their farms to notify local law enforcement officials immediately.

The agriculture department is the state’s lead agency in investigating and controlling infectious livestock diseases, including those that pose a threat to human health. It has a state-of-the-art diagnostic center that provides assistance to veterinarians and herd owners for disease problems. The department also provides technical assistance to other state agencies and industry in agriculture biosecurity and has emergency-response plans to quickly control disease outbreaks through animal quarantines and other measures. In fact, four of the agriculture department’s microbiologists are currently working with the Ohio Department of Health on emergency response.

Dailey said the department monitors animal diseases that can be spread from animal to animal, from one facility to another, or from animals to people, and that risk of transmission increases in instances where biosecurity measures – proper disease-control procedures such as sanitizing clothing and footwear – are not strictly followed. The diseases are on a list of 26 that are required by law to be reported to the department and could be transmitted by food, feed, water, or air, or by contact with people’s contaminated skin, hair, or clothing. These diseases could be spread accidentally as a result of a farm break-in, Dailey said. Many livestock facilities post signage to inform visitors of these dangers and precautions, he noted.

For example, avian diseases such as Newcastle disease, caused by a rapidly-spreading virus, can be carried on people’s clothing for miles and transferred to other birds. Also, the human food-borne illness Salmonellosis is caused by bacteria that, while harmless to birds, hides undetected in parts of many poultry farms and occasionally makes its way to the human food supply. Without proper precautions, Salmonella bacteria on a farm can be accidentally tracked by people onto other parts of the farm or other farms miles away, increasing the risk of contamination to the food supply.

Dailey also expressed the administration’s support for S.B. 147, sponsored by Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Larry Mumper, unanimously passed this month by the Ohio Senate, to establish criminal penalties for damaging or destroying agriculture crops, timber, livestock, or equipment. The legislation is pending in the Ohio House.

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