Speaking recently at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science Summit Conference in Washington, D. C., Professor Juergen Richt, Kansas State University Regents Distinguished Professor and Director of the DHS Center of Excellence for Emerging and Animal Diseases (CEEZAD), surprised his audience by opening with a little-known fact: “It has been estimated that a pound of meat (beef, chicken or pork) generally travels about 1,000 miles from farm to fork.” In view of such extensive movement, Dr Richt explained, “our agricultural supply chain here in the United States is under threat, because of our remarkable mobility that permits animals, people, food, diseases and even terrorists to move around the world with impunity.”

The Challenges Ahead

“For various foreign and zoonotic diseases—that is animal diseases that cross the species barrier to infect people—we face six tough challenges: (1) a research challenge for scientists to understand how viruses and prions behave;(2) a developmental challenge for pharmaceutical firms to manufacture the necessary vaccines and antiviral drugs quickly; (3) an organizational challenge for international agencies and national governments to fund and distribute those vaccines and antiviral agents; (4) an agricultural challenge for farmers and firms to protect their animals and workers; (5) a medical challenge for physicians, nurses and families to care for those who are ill; and (6) a personal challenge for politicians, public health officials and households — to each one of us—to respond with resilience and calmness.”

“The scale of this challenge is indicated by the fact that in the past two decades there have been numerous outbreaks of infectious diseases, each of which has cost its host country at least $350 million. The most serious recent outbreaks have all begun in animals—Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) which cost China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada and other nations some $50 billion, Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) which cost the United Kingdom some $30 billion, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) which cost the United Kingdom $13 billion, and numerous outbreaks of Avian Flu in Asia, North America and Europe costing more than $10 billion.”

The Need for an Effective System of Animal Identification

It is precisely the unpredictability of emerging diseases that makes it essential to introduce an effective system of animal identification in the United States in order to ensure animal traceability. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has now taken the lead in a new effort to codify federal regulations and require an interstate certificate of veterinary inspection for all livestock moved interstate. Although producers and distributors of livestock are concerned by the costs of implementing an animal identification system in the United States, such costs are minimal compared to the costs of a major animal disease outbreak in the U.S. For example, the efficient control and eradication of FMD cannot be achieved without traceability data to identify the location of infected animals.

The Need to Link Human and Veterinary Medicine

“The opening line of Charles Dickens’ novel, A Tale of Two Cities, summarizes what I have tried to communicate,” commented Dr Richt. Remember when Dickens wrote: ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.’ Today it is the best of times when we develop policies that are grounded in One Health, linking human and veterinary medicine with an ecologically healthy environment. It is the worst of times when we think that we can ignore the possibility of a major disease outbreak in the U. S.”

Dr Richt concluded, “We are confronted with many challenges, but given sufficient determination and funding these challenges can be met