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Although bioterrorism and homeland security have found
their ways into today's lexicon, little discussion has
focused on how scientific disciplines can help with the
country's preparedness and responses. Vigilance against deliberately introduced insect pests that affect our food, fiber, and the
environment, and their potential as vectors of animal, human, and plant diseases has required entomologists to be on the front line of pest surveillance in virtually every county in the U.S.
Although invasive species offer their own agricultural and
environmental concerns, the discussions take on greater
significance when one considers the potential deployment
of exotic species intentionally as a bioterrorist event. For
example, the arrival of emerald ash borer into the upper
Midwest is causing great economic losses, as well as affecting interstate commerce. Introducing insect agents such as that beetle, or even worse, an insect that can vector plant diseases (e.g., soybean aphid which can transmit soybean
viruses), points out the
need for having expertise
mobilized to deal with the
introduced agent and its
impact to the country.
Even a limited pest introduction in an economically
sensitive commodity could
have devastating trade and
market implications.
The recent introduction of
West Nile virus into the U.S.
points to the ever-increasing threat of arthropodborne diseases. Although
West Nile virus is affecting
thousands of people, other
mosquito and arthropodborne diseases of humans
and livestock are considered even more threatening, such as Rift Valley
fever, Q fever, Japanese
encephalitis, Spring-Summer fever, and Crimean
Hemorrhagic fever, to name a few. Similarly, there are ample
examples in history on the potential for arthropods to be
"weaponized" and to be delivery vehicles for disease organisms. Impacts to human health and animal production could
be devastating, yet we know little of the exotic arthropod vectors and how to interrupt the disease cycle. These types of invaders that can be used as bioterrorism threat agents call for heightened vigilance to detect and deter their introductions, and the need for a network of trained first-responders to provide entomological expertise to mitigate the effects of such introduced agents.
A rapid response capability must be developed to contain biological threat agents before they become established and spread in the U.S. This will require access to the potential threat agents that are often only available overseas, and facilities, such as BSL-3 facilities, to study their biology,
vector potential, behavior, control, etc.. New tools, technologies, and techniques are needed to quickly and accurately monitor and detect
listed agents. This includes
new taxonomic tools and
expertise to guarantee a
capacity to get critical
taxa identified accurately
and rapidly. Training is
needed to educate first
responders and the general public about the threats
and appropriate actions
when something unusual
is encountered. Finally, a big challenge will be coordinating the many different government, vulnerable systems, and discipline groups involved in biosecurity operations.
The federal government and land grant universities working
in cooperation with state regulatory agencies and other
agencies operate and maintain a pest surveillance network
that reaches down to counties in most states as part of the
National Pest Diagnostic Network. The current infrastructure provides sufficient level of monitoring, detection, and
diagnosis for known pests and pathogens, but the increasing number of invasive species, accidentally or intentionally introduced, will require greater ability for rapid detection
and response. Current efforts provide limited resources for
diagnosis and not much
more. We need to see
more pest monitoring and
the development of a
truly rapid response capability. The biggest challenge is improving the
coordination between local, state, regional and national government
agencies. This is where
most of the expertise needed to address biothreats can be
found and should be enhanced as part of the existing capacity without undermining the foundation already in place to
keep vigilance over quarantine pests and invasive species.
Entomologists are poised and
ready to help improve our
understanding of the use of
insects as bioterrorist agents
or even as agents to ward off
bioterrorist attacks. As farfetched as it may seem,
insects offer real, near-term possibilities for deployment
in the war against arriving
weapons, explosives and even biotic agents. Parasitic wasps
have been trained to respond to the chemical odors from
various explosives, thus making them possibly effective
biosensors and screening agents to interrupt introduction
of weapons.
As entomologists we are ready to advance homeland security through:
- Building upon the existing pest surveillance network to detect and rapidly mitigate against deliberately introduced biological agents
- Developing methods to exclude arthropods as vectors of
human, plant, and animal diseases by providing training
for the backbone of a network of first-responders; identifying and mitigating effects of intentionally introduced agents, thus assuring economic security for food,
fiber and human health, networking with colleagues,
counterparts and experts overseas to enhance our
capacities against targeted threat agents, and vulnerable pathways
- Fostering efforts to develop insects as agents to screen
and prevent introduction of conventional and bioweapons
- Providing training for first-responders and the general
public to understand the threats and be responsive to potential threat agents
In order to enhance these efforts, we need expanded
investments in basic entomological research, including specifically in areas such as:
- Better taxonomic capabilities, particularly better inventory of native species and rapidly accessible databases of
insects. This would include also an arthropod and
pathogen information database and reporting system on
origins and locations of known species and new species.
- Discovery of novel methods and tools for the accurate
and rapid diagnosis of insects, including by remote sensing in order to determine their global relationships. This
is particularly critical as the time between any deliberate or natural/accidental introduction, deliberate or
accidental/natural, and potential devastating effects is
extremely short in some cases.
- Modeling and explaining the spread and survival of vectors and pathogens with the potential to become biological threat agents, through study of vector biology,
virulence mechanisms, epidemiology, and basic biology.
- Understanding the potential for weaponizing insects
and means to detect and deal with the same. This would
include developing molecular tools to rapidly identify
the insects and the pathogens they are weaponized with.
- Develop insects as sensors of conventional and non-conventional weapons, including bioweapons.
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