Texas ag industry prepares for disaster

By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas Edition

March 27, 2003 -- With the risk of national security level at "high," U.S. citizens are being asked to be more vigilant as they go about their daily lives.

In Texas and across the nation, emergency management plans for citizens is key, yet protection of livestock and crops is of utmost importance as well.

Susan Combs, commissioner of agriculture, urged Texas producers to remain vigilant and maintain a "heightened awareness" for unusual activity around their property, due to the Level Orange (high) threat alert.

"With Operation Liberty Shield in place to increase security and readiness in the United States, Texas agriculture must be ready to do its part to make certain our industry and America's food supply are safe. Any assault on American agriculture would be a highly destructive force that could be used against our country," said Combs.

Combs sent a letter to the Texas Food Security Coalition (a 57-member agriculture/commodity group established after 9-11) asking them to be particularity vigilant along the border for any "unusual" activity.

Also, she listed a number of security measures deemed appropriate for the Level Orange threat alert. Included in the list, producers were reminded to maintain a list of emergency contacts, review internal security and safety procedures, along with reporting any threats, suspicious activities, vehicles or persons.

Another area of concern involves thefts of pesticide or chemical inventory that could pose a public health or safety risk.

At the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), Dr. Max Coats, deputy director of animal health diseases, detailed other ideas and concerns for the general public. He said while there is a national emergency management system in place at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Riverdale, each state has its own program.

"When the threat goes to a certain level that (national) center becomes staffed and people move in there and operate from that emergency center, and it's staffed around the clock, seven days a week.

"Likewise, at the state level, if the threat level changes to a certain level, then the emergency operation center is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and different agencies that are participating in that center are also required to have people there, all the time, in order to be able to properly respond to any new developments," Coats said from his office in Austin on March 20.

In Texas, the emergency center is housed in the basement of the Department of Public Safety Headquarters in Austin, as is a part of the governor's emergency management team.

"The (Texas) Animal Health Commission is a member of the governor's emergency management counsel, and as such, we are subject to be called to that emergency operation center ... if there is a threat, potentially, involving animal issues," noted Coats.

When asked what changes would be in affect should the alert change from Orange (high) to Red (severe), Coats said it would depend on the specific nature of the event, or "the intelligence that drove the change."

"If we had, for example, indication from some source that there was some person who was trying to introduce animal disease 'X,' based on the characteristics of that disease and the very specific information provided, we (TAHC) might 'field' people to a location, or ... certainly ... alert whatever segment in the industry that might be impacted," said Coats.

While ports of entry are principally a plant protection quarantine site operated by USDA, there are people working with the veterinarian services that oversee the importation of livestock, he said.

"We've asked them to be particularly alert. Their task is to be sure and be there all the time and pay attention to what goes on, anyway, but we've asked them to be particularly alert," Coats added.

He said TAHC is in contact with between 300 to 400 print media outlets and over 27,000 e-mail recipients, including ag teachers, county Extension agents and various cattle organization and trade groups. Whenever there is any information or alert which needs to be publicized, these contacts are made.

Coats added that anyone involved with the ag industry or with response teams is putting out alert notifications to the public.

"I think they (producers) need to be mindful. I was asked the other day if I thought people need to worry. I don't think worrying is productive. I think concern is rational, and worry is not. Concern can result in

appropriate activities. Worry usually is a waste of effort," he explained.

One alert from TAHC, concerning livestock and poultry, suggested five signs producers should watch for: sudden, unexplained death loss in the herd or flock; severe illness affecting a high percentage of the animals; blistering around an animal's mouth, nose, teats or hooves; unusual ticks or maggots; and, last but not least, staggering, falling or central nervous system disorders.

Producers finding any of these signs are urged to notify local law authorities and a local vet.

"If, together, they determine there's something really very unusual is going on, we certainly ask that they call us (TAHC), and we get into it with our foreign animal disease diagnosticians and so forth," said Coats.

He said that infecting large or small groups of livestock could result in the same devastation, according to how long it takes to determine there is a real problem.

"Are we more vulnerable, today, than we were yesterday, or two weeks ago, or next week? Our vulnerability probably has not changed," he said in closing comments.

(Texas Animal Health Commission authorities can be reached at 1-800-550-8242, and the line is manned by USDA and TAHC veterinarians.)