Agroterrorism, Biological Crimes, and Biological Warfare Targeting Animal Agriculture

This chapter deals with the history of agroterrorism, biological crimes, and biological warfare directed toward animal agriculture, specifically horses, cattle (both beef and dairy), swine, sheep, goats, and poultry. A recent investigative report concludes that it was an ambitious and well-planned program, conducted on three continents, but that the success of the attacks was questionable. In a very recent excellent investigative report on the introduction of rabbit calicivirus disease into New Zealand, Steve Goldstein offers a serious, thorough review of agroterrorism and biological crimes. The animal pathogens and the species affected that are most often mentioned as being the most important as potential agroterrorism attack agents are, for cattle, foot-and-mouth disease virus and rinderpest virus; for swine, foot-and-mouth disease virus, classical swine fever virus, and African swine fever virus; and for poultry, avian influenza virus and Newcastle disease virus. With U.S. government funding and attention focused on countering biological weapons targeted at humans, agencies and groups are just now becoming aware of the threat posed by agroterrorism and biological warfare directed against the nation's animals and crops. The current laws that authorize investigations of potential terrorism rest on assumptions that may be misaligned for preventing and punishing agroterrorism. The biocrimal acts and the consequent economic impact clearly demonstrate that agriculture can be the target of an economically devastating terrorist or criminal attack.

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