The Office of Science and Technology Policy Blue Ribbon Panel on the Threat of Biological Terrorism Directed Against Livestock

Motivated by the growing threat of terrorism to the nation's homeland in the post-9/11 environment, the Office of Science and Technology, in conjunction with the RAND Science and Technology Policy Institute, organized and convened a Blue Ribbon Panel in early December 2003 to investigate, discuss, and prioritize a future research and development agenda for combating potential acts of biological agro-terrorism directed against U.S. livestock industry and related produce. This report summarizes the proceedings of the two-day conference and provides an overview of the findings and recommendations of the forum's four breakout groups: (i) Cross-Jurisdictional Surveillance and Information Technology (IT); (ii) Infection Disease Epidemiology; (iii) Vaccination and Protection Technologies; and (iv) Detection, Diagnostics, and Forensics Capabilities. In addition to these summaries, which include some discussion on wider threat contingencies related to agro-terrorism, the report contains the original papers submitted for the meeting. Overall, the issues presented in the report highlight the vulnerability of the nation's livestock sector, agriculture's importance to the U.S. economy at large, the specifics of a prioritized future research and development portfolio, and the place of the industry in the developing structure of U.S homeland security.