Outbreak Alert, Essay Example

According to many experts in the government, there are imposing threats to the U.S food supply from the prospect of terrorism. The Center for Science in the Public Interest published as CSPI White Paper that reports annually one in six Americans (48 million), get a foodborne illness from contaminated food. “Of these, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die.” (DeWaal and Glassman 1) Although Mad Cow diseases is an unintentional foodborne illness, the complexity and vastness of food production in the United States gives way to many vulnerabilities in the manner of contamination in the food process. The intentional facilitation of food can be delivered to millions of Americans on a daily basis. According to Michel-Kerjan (2003), “One of the most useful and common services was becoming a source of dread about biological attacks; everyone was becoming a potential target.” (Michel-Kerjan2003)  If terrorism where to infiltrate the food supply, it could cause increased mortality and morbidity, and by far a greater impact to the economy. The risks of terrorist introducing an agroterrorism through the food supply that would have tremendous repercussions. While Mad Cow disease is not a main catalyst for terrorists, other pathogens includes chemical, bioterrorism, and the multicountry outbreak of atypical pneumonia such as SARS. (DeWaal and Glassman 2013) These types of terrorists acts could greatly impact the financial and health of individuals.

As remarked in question 1, the number of illnesses from foodborne disease related outbreaks has declined in the last decade, as well as the number of people who have died. However, it is still an issue for public health concern. The outbreaks main catalysts includes contaminant and identified food vehicle. Although findings from DeWaal, Tian, and Bhuiya (2008) said that foodborne illnesses cause over 5,000 deaths and 76 million illnesses a year. (DeWaal, Tian, Bhuiya 2008) The recent improvements to the while effective, still do little to deter the probability that terrorist could contaminate the food supply. This contamination could ultimately impact the economic and health of millions of people each day. While it has been reported that agroterrorism has only been centered around short outbreaks in localized areas, there is the potential to widespread outreach that would have long-term impact worldwide.

There are several agencies that overlap their authority in which are responsible for food safety. Since the number of people die each day, there are millions of lives at stake since the U.S Food Supply impacts several countries and people all around the world. There should be a unified solution, but also a practical solution in which involves international participation from the heads of governments that come into agreement on the standards of food production, and a demand for safety measures for food. While there are several commissions that have been established to look after food, such as the CDC that has to constantly report and survey any outbreak information. Based on the recommendations from DeWaal et al (2008) Congress needs to pass legislations in which helps bring food safety laws into modern times, while more money should be allocated to the FDA’s food safety program. (DeWaal et al 2008) While not only should the U.S work together with other agencies, there should an overall authority that overseas threats to their citizens.

According to reports, the food czar hasn’t made any notable moves in which to protect the American people from food contamination. The appointment of the food czar was shrouded in controversy itself, as he was once the head of Monsanto, another controversial agricultural multinational company that is pushing genetically modified foods. The food czar has made an implication that there is no direct difference in untreated cows and treated cows. Among other controversial dealings, not much as change in the food safety standards, and how to stop the contamination of the food supply, a very significant factor today.

References

Center for Science in the Public Interest. (2008). Outbreak alert! Closing the gaps in our federal food-safety net.  CSPI. Retrieved from http://www.cspinet.org/new/pdf/outbreak_alert_2008_report_final.pdf

Center for Science in the Public Interest. (2013). Outbreak alert! 2001 – 2010: A review of Foodborne Illnesses in America. CSPI. Retrieved from htttp://cspinet.org/new/pdf/outbreak_alert_2013_final.pdf

Institute of Medicine (US) Forum on Microbial Threats. (2006). Addressing Foodborne Threats to Health: Policies, Practices, and Global Coordination: Workshop Summary. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2006. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK57094/

Government Accounting Office. (2013). Critical Infrastructure Protection: DHS Need to Improve Its Risk Assessments and Outreach for Chemical Facilities. GAO. Retrieved from http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-801T

Michel-Kerjan, E. (2003). New challenges in critical Infrastructures: A US perspective. Journal of Contingencies & Crisis Management, 11(3), 132-141.