FACT SHEET: ODA’s Homeland Security

Accomplishments in Last 12 Months

Summary of ODA Actions in Second Year Following 9/11

Several additional homeland security projects were initiated by the Ohio Department of Agriculture from September 2002 to September 2003, during the second year of the department’s response to the attacks of September 11.

The department, a member of the State of Ohio Security Task Force, undertook additional training and consultation projects with industry and government to enhance biosecurity and disease monitoring on livestock farms, improve security for food processing operations and other sensitive agribusinesses, and improve emergency preparedness in case of biological or chemical attacks on food and agricultural operations. The department also initiated immediate and long-term improvements to its staff and equipment capabilities in animal and plant health inspections and laboratory detection of dangerous disease organisms and food contaminants. The projects used both state and federal funding.

“We are working with businesses to study and adopt sensible new guidelines for food and agriculture security and take concrete steps to protect their operations from sabotage,” Ohio Agriculture Director Fred L. Dailey said. “Meanwhile, we will continue to intensify our own regulatory monitoring and emergency response planning for dangerous animal diseases and food contamination.”

Examples and details of the department’s projects since last September are outlined below.

Accessing Federal Funds for Additional Expertise, Equipment, Coordination

The department used federal funding to improve states’ preparedness for possible terrorist attacks against food and agriculture. Drawn from nearly $1.2 million in special federal funding approved for ODA in 2002 and 2003, numerous departmental projects are in place or underway to improve food safety and animal and plant disease surveillance, reporting, and response. They include:

· Identification and cataloguing of livestock farms through global positioning system (GPS) technology to help the department mobilize faster on behalf of farmers threatened by an animal disease outbreak.

· Establishment of an animal disease pathology residency program with Ohio State University.

· Educational outreach to veterinarians on zoonotic and foreign animal diseases.

· New training and personal protective equipment for livestock inspectors.

· New equipment for detecting biological and chemical agents in food.

· A new ODA plant pathology position and additional plant disease surveys.

· Equipment upgrades to speed data-sharing among state laboratories.

· Incorporation of ODA’s labs into the federal Food Emergency Response Network to help in national chemical or bioterrorism response.

State Funding for Important Equipment Upgrades to Protect Ohioans

The department secured state capital improvement funds since last September to provide infrastructure that will improve our response to a biological attack on agriculture or food. They are:

· A planned $1.63 million alkaline hydrolysis disposal unit, which will more effectively dispose of infectious animal carcasses that could otherwise pose a danger to the public. The state-of-the-art installation will improve the state’s response to the potential introduction of more-virulent and deadly animal and zoonotic diseases that are hard to kill by conventional means. These diseases include bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or “mad cow disease.” The unit is scheduled to begin operation in late spring of 2004.

· A $22 million building project that will enable important state laboratories to better handle dangerous disease organisms safely through improved built-in biosecurity precautions. The project will involve the co-location of the state’s public, environmental, and animal health laboratories at the state agriculture campus in Reynoldsburg. It is scheduled for completion in early spring of 2005.

ODA’s Emergency Preparedness Training Since Last September

The department conducted or participated in a number of training sessions since last September to improve the capabilities of both industry and government to prevent and respond to a biological attack on food and agriculture. They included:

· A functional training exercise to test law enforcement protocols for responding to rapidly spreading animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease. ODA led this October 2002 exercise in conjunction with the Ohio Emergency Management Agency.

· A tabletop training exercise to test local, state, and federal government response measures in the event of a bioterrorist attack on an Ohio community. ODA participated alongside numerous other government agencies in this May 2003 exercise.

· Training for veterinary practitioners, federal and state animal health managers, and public health coordinators in emergency preparedness and response to bioterrorism, including controlling outbreaks of dangerous zoonotic and foreign animal diseases. ODA led these May 2003 training sessions in conjunction with the Ohio Department of Health and the Ohio Veterinary Medical Association.

· Training for Ohio food processors on how to better secure their operations against sabotage. ODA worked with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Cuyahoga County’s local health department to lead a June 2003 training in Cleveland and will work with FDA again to lead sessions for food processors statewide in the fall of 2003.

· Working with the Ohio Emergency Management Agency and OSU Extension to prepare a terrorism vulnerability and response capability assessment for Ohio’s local and state governments. This project began in the summer of 2003 and will culminate in a unified statewide assessment and strategy document to be submitted to the federal government in December 2003.

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EDITORS: For more information from federal and state sources about preventing terrorism against food and agriculture, please go to the department’s Homeland Security/Biosecurity web page at www.state.oh.us/agr/COMM-homeland%20security-biosecurity.html.