GREAT BEND, Kansas — Emerging infectious diseases like the coronavirus don’t just threaten humans. They’re also a major concern for the livestock industry and the U.S. food supply, with billions, if not trillions, of dollars at stake.
“We have a lot of movement of animals,” said Jack Shere, associate administrator for emergency program planning, response and security at the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. “And disease could spread very easily.”
Considering three out of four new diseases in humans come from animals, including the coronavirus, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and livestock producers are seeing what they can learn from the world’s response to COVID-19 — so they can be prepared for the equally serious threat of a devastating animal disease.
The coronavirus isn’t the first wakeup call for the federal government.
In 2015, a highly infectious strain of avian influenza (aka bird flu) led to the outright death or euthanization of more than 50 million chickens and turkeys in the upper Midwest. It also resulted in trade restrictions that caused more than $1 billion in lost export revenue.
“No one likes to pay for all of the response capabilities when nothing happens, but then when it happens people look at each other and say why weren’t we better prepared,” Shere said.
A big part of the federal strategy to keep diseases at bay involves the Department of Homeland Security, which is not only responsible for Customs and Border Patrol but also supports several important research laboratories, such as Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York state.
“The potential for emerging threats, emerging diseases, future diseases is real,” said Bob Burns, executive director office of innovation and collaboration at the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate. “And we need to pay attention to that.”
He said people should be surprised more foreign animal diseases haven’t shown up already. For years, the agriculture industry has dodged a breakout of foot-and-mouth disease, and so far, a massive outbreak of African Swine Fever has been confined to China, Mongolia, Vietnam and parts of Europe.
Like with the coronavirus outbreak, Burns said a key to stopping a foreign animal disease will be quickly identifying what it is and where it’s been. But you can’t have a diagnostic test ready if you’re not already studying or aware of the disease.
For that, you need laboratories like the one under construction in Manhattan, Kansas. The $1.2 billion National Bio and Agro-Defense facility is expected to begin operation in 2022. It will be one of only four labs in the world that can work with large live animals and highly infectious, deadly diseases for which there aren’t vaccines.
But, really, the first people to recognize an actual outbreak will likely be farmers, ranchers and feedlot operators who are in constant contact with thousands of animals every day.
Innovative Livestock Services operates eight feedlots in Kansas and Nebraska, where caregivers perform a health check on every pen at least once a day. They make sure every animal is visually inspected for signs and symptoms of disease.
“They look for the same thing we look for in our kids — runny nose, a depressed look, that type of stuff,” said Brandon Depenbusch, vice president of cattle operations for Innovative Livestock Services.
Depenbusch said he thinks about the consequences of a foreign animal disease outbreak almost every day. It’s why he’s participating in the Secure Beef Supply program, a coordinated effort between the USDA and a few states (including Colorado and Kansas) that trains and prepares cattle, pork and poultry operations on disease response plans.
