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PRESS RELEASEFor immediate releaseContact: Amy Steigman Plant Pathologists to Discuss Anti-Crop Bioterrorism and Food Security, August 1999St. Paul, MN (July 21, 1999) — You've heard of the Irish
potato famine and other plant diseases that have wiped out a country’s staple crop.
Throughout history, there have been many famines and epidemics as a result of disease.
What if they were caused deliberately? Many people are aware of the threat of biological
weapons directed towards people, but few realize the potential dire effects of crop
bioterrorism, the use of pathogens to cause a food crop epidemic or contamination of our
food supply.
According to Norm Schaad, USDA-ARS Foreign Disease-Weed Science
Research Unit and member of the American Phytopathological Society, "Our current
agriculture infrastructure is susceptible to disease outbreaks resulting from
bioterrorism. As members of the plant science community we are aware of the risk and feel
it’s important to interact with other scientists and agencies in a cooperative effort
to review the issues."
A symposium to bring together plant pathologists, military intelligence and criminal
experts to discuss anti-crop bioterrorism will be held during the joint American
Phytopathological Society (APS) and Canadian Phytopathological Society (CPS) Annual
Meeting in Montreal, Canada. This session will feature speakers from federal agencies,
universities and the private sector convened by Anne Vidaver, University
of Nebraska. "This is the first international symposium being held to create
an awareness among individuals with expertise in the agricultural scientific community to
develop measures against crop bioterrorism," says Schaad.
Jan Leach, Kansas State University, will discuss proposed strategies
to minimize potential threats to the U.S. food supply. "Proactive development of
crops with novel and broad spectrum resistances to plant disease may hinder the success of
altered organisms," says Leach. "This is an active area of research by plant
pathologists today."
"More funding for and emphasis on pathogen identification as well as a formal
national procedure for surveying and reporting new plant diseases could reduce the
destructive effects of deliberate pathogen releases," says Bob Forster,
University of Idaho Research and Extension Center.
Forster, Leach and Schaad as well as Thomas Frazier, GenCon; Wallace
Deen, private consultant; David Huxsoll, Louisiana State
University; Larry Madden, Ohio State University; Robert Hickson,
USAF Academy and D.E. Wilson, FBI Laboratory will present their views on
ways of approaching anti-crop bioterrorism during this symposium.
The symposium on plant pathology’s role in combating anti-crop bioterrorism and
promoting food security, will be held at the APS/CPS Annual Meeting in Montreal, Canada on
Tuesday, August 10 at 2 p.m. Complimentary registration is available for reporters and
science writers. The American Phytopathological Society (APS) is a professional scientific organization
dedicated to the study and control of plant disease with 5,000 members worldwide.
Media Advisory: If you would like to receive copies of all news releases issued by APS,
please send an e-mail to hsteenberg@scisoc.org.
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