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BioInvasion:
The Economy's Nemesis
In today's world of war, terrorism, and economic instability, the United States has been strong and has held the world together, but BioInvasion is fast becoming a dangerous threat to our economic well being. In 1997 African ticks carrying heartwater disease; a fatal animal disease from South Africa, were found on a leopard tortoise that a reptile dealer in Florida had just purchased. Upon investigating his facility scientist found an infestation of these disease-ridden ticks. If they had not caught these they could have caused an epedemic.
These exported disease, which our domesticated animals have no immunity to, could easily end our economy if they were to spread. Without farming we could lose a substantial amount of money on imports and exports. Since the beginning farming has been a steady form of income for the United States. These diseases, unlike many fatal human diseases like Ebola and Hanta virus, do not receive enough media coverage to raise public awareness. What most people don't realize is that seventy- percent of all animal disease turns into human disease. This would cause a loss in workers, also reducing productivity and profit.
Just in the past few years there have been case of BioInvasion devastating economy's all over the world. Britain's cattle industry was severely hit by the outbreak of Mad Cow Disease, a disease that has spread throughout Europe. Britain is now also getting hit in the hog market by swine fever; this has caused a shut down in exports. Asia is not left out either. In Japan and Korea there are wicked outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in their cattle market, which may have been brought into the country from imports of animals from China. In Mexico the industry for poultry took a hit when fourteen million chickens had to be slaughtered due to Exotic Newcastle Disease. A virus called Nepha, which has also caused the death of 105 people, has destroyed the Malaysian pork industry. Finally, here in the United States we are battling a parasitic disease called leishmaniasis, which has killed hundreds of foxhounds.
The blame, say some experts, lies in the explosion of world trade, business travel, and tourism. Constantly aggravating the problems are the strict limits global trade policies put on countries' abilities to ban animal trade. In the United State the small budgets for disease researchers and border inspectors have left animals and humans exposed. Even though the United States has been spared from the worst of the recent plagues the spending for battling agricultural problems ran to nine billion dollars last year, and if the U.S. were to be hit with an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease that number could more than double and effect the whole farm and food economy. The ramifications of foreign animal disease, according to the National Intelligence Council, should be considered as risks to national security.
Britain, in the aftermath of Mad Cow Disease, has spent an estimated $6.25 billion to clean things up, and that does not count the jobs lost. Their Beef exports are still down ninety-nine percent from 1995, and the effects on the economy could last another fifteen years. The United State Department of Agriculture has already killed three flocks of sheep in an effort to keep Mad Cow Disease out of our countries' livestock. Foot-and-mouth disease has caused Japan and Korea to slaughter 350,000 cows, costing them $90 million. That number is nothing though compared to the 3.8 million hogs that had to be slaughtered in 1997, costing Taiwan $15 billion. These outbreaks don't only cost these countries large sums of money; they cause them to lose their place in global markets.
The question in America is not if we will be subject to the economic disruption of foreign animal disease, but when we will. The more we allow imports of exotic animals, the more susceptible to contamination we will become. The countries' that have been hit in the recent year have the best veterinary systems, so our top veterinarians are asking why shouldn't the U.S. be attacked too. There also is another threat is agroterrorism. Unlike human diseases, which must be manipulated before use, animal diseases are ready to use in biowarfare. In World War I, Germany tried to use agroterrorism to kill horses and mules for use in the armed forces.
Without new funding for scientific assessments, there may be little hope for the prevention of the spread of these deadly, and economically murderous, diseases. The estimated loses for the different industries are as follows: Cattle, over $4 billion; Hogs, $2 billion; and the Poultry and Dairy industries $1 billion. The threat of foreign animal disease could also cause investors to sell all farm and food stocks.
The United States government has started to take steps in the right direction though. The House and Senate sub-committees on agriculture have recommended allocating funds to revamp our arsenal against foreign animal diseases. They may be a long way from getting those funds though, due to political battles that may arise. The USDA has however banned the import of animals that are known to carry heartwater ticks, and has restricted intrastate trade.
The process may be slow, but the legislators and scientist of the United State will be working on a solution to this potentially deadly and economically unsafe problem. Hopefully we can prevent these diseases long enough to save our economy from possible destruction for BioInvasion.
Bibliography
Ginsburg, Janet. Bio Invasion. Business Week Sept. 2000: 70-78.
Heishman, Sherry. Agricultural Production IIII Class. April 2000.
Word Count: 902
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