Threat of Bioterrorism for Food Safety

Bioterrorism  

A bioterrorism attack is the deliberate release of viruses, bacteria, or other germs (agents) used to cause illness or death in people, animals, or plants. These agents are typically found in nature, but it is possible that they could be changed to increase their ability to cause disease, make them resistant to current medicines, or to increase their ability to be spread into the environment. Biological agents can be spread through the air, through water, or in food. Terrorists may use biological agents because they can be extremely difficult to detect and do not cause illness for several hours to several days. Some bioterrorism agents, like the smallpox virus, can be spread from person to person and some, like anthrax, cannot.

Bioterrorism agents can be separated into three categories, depending on how easily they can be spread and the severity of illness or death they cause. Category A agents are considered the highest risk and Category C agents are those that are considered emerging threats for disease.

Category A

These high-priority agents include organisms or toxins that pose the highest risk to the public and national security because:

They can be easily spread or transmitted from person to person

They result in high death rates and have the potential for major public health impact

They might cause public panic and social disruption

They require special action for public health preparedness

Category B

These agents are the second highest priority because:

They are moderately easy to spread

They result in moderate illness rates and low death rates

They require specific enhancements of CDC's laboratory capacity and enhanced disease monitoring

Category C
These third highest priority agents include emerging pathogens that could be engineered for mass spread in the future because:

They are easily available

They are easily produced and spread

They have potential for high morbidity and mortality rates and major health impact

In the last few years changes in the political and economic situation in the world make us think about the new threats to the global peace and safety. While all of us consume food products every day that is essential for our life, bioterrorism becomes one of the real possibilities, which must be prevented before we have numerous victims. Bioterrorism can be defined as terrorism by intentional release or dissemination of biologic agents (bacteria, viruses, or toxins); these may be in a naturally- occurring or in a human-modified form. Still we must mention that Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention in 1972 banned their production and any form of use [1]. Other definitions of bioterrorism include “the unlawful use of viruses, bacteria, fungi, toxins, or other pathogenic material against a government, the civilian population, livestock, crops, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political, social and/or economic objectives” [2], or “the use of dangerous biological agents for inflicting damage to the life and health of people in order to reach goals of a political and materialistic nature” [3].

Different targets of bioterrorism attacks in the farm-to-table food continuum include crops, livestock, food products in the processing and distribution chain, wholesale and retail facilities, storage facilities, transportation, food and agriculture research laboratories [4]. Examples of diseases which were in the center of epidemiological surveillance and public health control in the last years include severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), foot-and-mouth disease, mad cow disease, monkey pox, and avian influ-enza. All of these infections were perceived as serious threats for population health by epidemiologists and health care authorities [5]. All levels of health care system including national, regional and local ones have prepared for the prevention and control of the mentioned pathologies. Many international organizations focused their activities on recording the cases, early detection, treatment of emerging infections and research of effective drugs and vaccines. Any of the mentioned diseases can be brought intentionally or accidentally to the country and have severe medical, economic, and social consequences.

The food processing sector is generally described as the middle segment of the farm-to-table continuum – it extends from the time livestock and crops leave the farm for slaughter and processing until food products reach retail establishments and the consumer. Terrorists could use food products as a vehicle for introducing harmful chemical or biological agents into the food supply. Toxic chemicals or infectious agents if contaminate food production facilities present potential public health threat [6].

Trends in global food production, processing, distribution, and preparation present new challenges to food safety. Food grown in one country can now be transported and consumed halfway across the world. People demand a wider variety of foods than in the past; they want foods that are not in season and often eat away from home [7]. The integration and consolidation of agricultural and food industries and the globalization of the food trade are changing the patterns of food production and distribution. These conditions are creating an environment in which both known and new food-borne diseases can become prevalent. Food and feed are distributed over far greater distances than before, creating the conditions necessary for widespread outbreaks of food-borne illness. In a recent crisis, more than 1,500 farms in Europe received dioxin-contaminated feed from a single source over a 2-week period. Food produced from animals given this contaminated fodder found its way onto every continent within weeks. The effects of exposure to dioxin from this source on public health may become known only after years of investigation. The international spread of meat and bone-meal prepared from cattle affected by bovine spongiform encephalitis (BSE) needs no further description. The full economic consequences of such incidents and the anxiety raised among consumers are still being assessed [7].

Other factors account for the emergence of food safety as a public health issue. Increasing urbanization leads to greater requirements for transport, storage, and preparation of food. Increasing wealth, an urban lifestyle, and sometimes a lack of facilities mean that people eat much of their food away from home. In developing countries, food is often prepared by street vendors. In developed countries, up to 50% of the food budget may be spent on food prepared outside the home. All these changes lead to situations in which a single source of contamination can have wide- spread, even global consequences. Developing countries in particular are experiencing rapid changes in their health and social environments, and the strains on their limited resources are compounded by expanding urbanization, increasing dependence on stored foods, and insufficient access to safe water and facilities for safe food preparation. The globalization of the food trade offers many benefits to consumers, as it results in a wider variety of high-quality foods that are accessible, affordable and safe, meeting consumer demand. A diversity of foods in a balanced diet improves nutritional status and health. The global food trade provides opportunities for food exporting countries to earn foreign exchange, which is indispensable for the economic development of many countries and for improving the standard of living of many people [7]. However, these changes also present new challenges to safe food production and distribution and have been shown to have widespread repercussions on health [7].

Some of the Possible Bioterrorism Agents

Anthrax (Bacillus anthracis)

Arenaviruses

Bacillus anthracis (anthrax)

Botulism (Clostridium botulinum toxin)

Brucella species (brucellosis)

Brucellosis (Brucella species)

Burkholderia mallei (glanders)

Burkholderia pseudomallei (melioidosis)

Chlamydia psittaci (psittacosis)

Cholera (Vibrio cholerae)

Clostridium botulinum toxin (botulism)

Clostridium perfringens (Epsilon toxin)

Coxiella burnetii (Q fever)

Ebola virus hemorrhagic fever

E. coli O157:H7 (Escherichia coli)

Emerging infectious diseases such as Nipah virus and hantavirus

Epsilon toxin of Clostridium perfringens

Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli)

Food safety threats (e.g., Salmonella species, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Shigella)

Francisella tularensis (tularemia)

Glanders (Burkholderia mallei)

Lassa fever

Marburg virus hemorrhagic fever

Melioidosis (Burkholderia pseudomallei)

Plague (Yersinia pestis)

Psittacosis (Chlamydia psittaci)

Q fever (Coxiella burnetii)

Ricin toxin from Ricinus communis (castor beans)

Rickettsia prowazekii (typhus fever)

Salmonella species (salmonellosis)
Salmonella Typhi (typhoid fever)

Salmonellosis (Salmonella species)

Shigella (shigellosis)

Shigellosis (Shigella)

Smallpox (variola major)

Staphylococcal enterotoxin B

Tularemia (Francisella tularensis)

Typhoid fever (Salmonella Typhi)

Typhus fever (Rickettsia prowazekii)

Variola major (smallpox)

Vibrio cholerae (cholera)

Viral encephalitis (alphaviruses [e.g., Venezuelan equine encephalitis, eastern equine encephalitis, western equine encephalitis])

Viral hemorrhagic fevers (filoviruses [e.g., Ebola, Marburg] and arenaviruses [e.g., Lassa, Machupo])

Water safety threats (e.g., Vibrio cholerae, Cryptosporidium parvum)

Reference 

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2008) Bioterrorism overview. http://www.bt.cdc.gov/ bioterrorism/overview.asp. Retrieved 22 May 2009
2. Frerichs RL et al (2004) Historical precedence and technical requirements of biological weapons use: a threat assessment. Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque (May 2004), p 11
3. Wein LM, Liu Y (2005) Analyzing a bioterror attack on the food supply: the case of botulinum toxin in milk. Proc Natl Acad Sci 102(28):9984–9989
4. Mackby J (2006) Strategic study on bioterrorism (Russian – European Union Group Study). CSIS, Washington, DC
5. Evans RG, Crutcher JM, Shadel B, Clements B, Bronze MS (2002) Terrorism from a public health perspective. Am J Med Sci 323(6):291–298
6. U.S. General Accounting Office (2003) Food-processing security: voluntary efforts are under way, but federal agencies cannot fully assess their implementation. U.S. General Accounting Office, GAO-03-342 Washington, DC, 14 Feb 2003
7. World Health Organization (2002) WHO Global strategy for food safety: safer food for better health. WHO, Geneva