The document discusses the threat of agroterrorism in Southeast Asia. It defines agroterrorism and outlines several animal diseases that could be used for this purpose, including foot-and-mouth disease, avian influenza, Rift Valley fever, and Ebola. It notes the vulnerability of the region's livestock industry and food system. Several viruses are highlighted as potential bioweapons, such as Zika, that could have devastating economic and public health impacts through the agricultural sector. Close monitoring is needed to prevent the deliberate or accidental spread of dangerous diseases.

1. Agroterrorism: Disease of
Regional Concern
Tri Satya Putri Naipospos DVM, MPhil, PhD
The Regional Workshop on Agroterrorim “Potential Threats
and Biosecurity Preparedness: Are We Ready?
Penang, Malaysia, 26-28 April 2017

2. The Threat of Agroterrorism
• The increasing global presence of animal disease agents
(including zoonotic diseases) increases the risk of an
intentional introduction to an uninfected country.
• The outcome of a disease outbreak could be
devastating, resulting in loss of livestock, disruption of
animal agriculture industry and decreased food
production.
• Agroterrorism presents a significant threats to countries
and regions with risk to human health, the environment,
food supply, trade and economic stability, critical
infrastructure, confidence in government, and social
stability (OIE,2015).

3. Definition
• Agroterrorism is the deliberate introduction of a disease
agent, either against livestock or into the food chain, for the
purposes of undermining stability and/or generating fear.
• Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs) are new, reemerging
or drug-resistant infections whose incidence in humans has
increased within the past two decades or whose incidence
threatens to increase in the near future.
• Zoonotic Diseases are any infectious diseases that can be
transmitted (in some instances, by a vector) from other
animals, both wild and domestic, to humans or from
humans to animals.
Source: Gary Alan Flory. (2016). Presented at the
Non Conventional Threat CBRNe USA 2016 Conference ,
Washington DC, US. 31 May- 2 June 2016.

4. Threats through
the modern food
production system
• Every level of the food
chain, including farms,
feedlots, chemical
storage facilities,
meatpacking plants, and
distribution operations,
remains vulnerable to
agroterrorism.
Source: Gary Alan Flory. (2016). Presented at
the Non Conventional Threat CBRNe USA
2016 Conference , Washington DC, US. 31
May- 2 June 2016.

5. Livestock in Southeast Asian Countries
▪ 167.2 million livestock, not including 2.28 trillion of
chicken and ducks.
▪ Pig form majority of the population.
▪ Employment to over 100 million people.
▪ 50-70% production from smallholders.
▪ Vulnerability to diseases.

6. Animal Diseases as Agroterrorism
Disease Host range Status in SE Asia
Foot-and-Mouth-Disease Cattle, sheep, pigs,
and wild animals
Virus present
Anthrax Herbivores Bacteria present
Swine vesicular disease Pigs Virus present
Peste des petits ruminants Goats, sheep Free
Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia Cattle Free
Lumpy skin disease Cattle Free
Rift Valley fever Mainly cattle, sheep,
goats, humans
Free
Blue tongue Sheep, cattle, goats Virus present
Sheep pox and goat pox Sheep and goats Free
African horse sickness Horses, mules Free
African swine fever Pigs Free
Highly pathogenic avian influenza Most avian species Virus present
Classical swine fever Pigs Virus present
Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory
Syndrome
Pigs Virus present

7. Emerging viral diseases in Southeast
Asia and Western Pacific
• Dengue and Japanese
encephalitis (JE) viruses are
the major vectorborne
disease agents.
• Ross River, Chikungunya
and Barmah Forest viruses
important in relatively
restricted geographic areas.
• Hendra and Nipah,
Menangle and Tioman
viruses and Australian bat
lyssavirus (closely related to
classic rabies virus).
Source: J.S. Mackenzie et al, (2001). Emerging Viral Diseases of Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific

8. The threat of Zika virus infection
• Bioterrorism: The Zika Virus as a psychological and biological
genetic weapon?
• The WHO declared ZIKV infection to be an international public
health emergency in early February 2016.
• Till today, more than 44 countries have reported the
transmission of the disease.
• There appears to be significant evidence suggesting that Zika
is the cause of microcephaly which can lead to severe
neurological sequelae in babies.
• Currently, ZIKV outbreaks are ongoing and it will be difficult to
predict how the virus will spread over time.
• ZIKV is transmitted to humans primarily through the bite of
infected mosquitos, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus.
Source: Hui-Lan Chen and Ren-Bin Tang (2016). Why Zika virus infection has become a
public health concern? Journal of the Chinese Medical Association 79 (2016) 174e178.

9. The current status of Zika virus in
humans in Southeast Asia
Country Summary
Indonesia The first country in Southeast Asia in which Zika virus infections have
been reported
Singapore At risk
Myanmar Limited information
Lao PDR Limited information
Vietnam At risk
Cambodia A recent outbreak occurred in Cambodia. It is believed that the infection
spread to nearby countries, such as Thailand
Thailand Some local case reports have been published, as well as many reports
of Zika virus infection in travelers with a history of visiting Thailand.
Brunei At risk
Timor Leste Limited information
Malaysia Evidence of infections has been published, as well as some reports of
Zika virus infections in travelers with a history of visiting Malaysia
The Philippines At risk
Source: Viroj Wiwanitkit (2016). The current status of Zika virus in Southeast Asia

10. The threat of Ebola viruses
• The world is at present experiencing the worst Ebola outbreak in
history.
• Ebola's exponential spread has fears that terrorists may seek to
turn the virus into a powerful weapon of mass destruction.
• WHO in 2014 has declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a
Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
• Ebola viruses (genus Ebolavirus, family Filoviridae) cause often
fatal, hemorrhagic fever in several species of simian primates
including human and have mortality rate up to 90%.
• In 2009 Reston-Ebolavirus was the first Ebola virus reported to
infect swine with indicated transmission to humans.
Source: Chaudhary S., Pahwa V.K., Bhatia B.D. (2014). Ebola Virus Outbreak the Present Situation
in South East Asia Perspective. Journal of Universal College of Medical Sciences (2014) Vol.2
No.03 Issue 07.

11. Ebola reston in Southeast Asia
• The Ebola-Reston virus previously caused outbreaks in
macaques in the Philippines.
• A farm worker in the Philippines had tested positive for the
Ebola-Reston virus. The infected individual had been exposed
to pigs infected with the virus, the first known outbreak of the
virus in swine.
• The Ebola-Reston species is not known to cause serious
illness in humans.
• The emergence of Ebola reston virus in pigs and its
transmission to humans raises concern because pigs serve
as mixing vessels for other human and animal viruses, and
the presence of the virus in pig farms increases the
likeliohood of human exposure.
Source: Joan Stephenson (2009). Ebola-Reston Virus.

12. The threat of Rift Valley Fever
• Introduction of a pathogen like RVF would cause the same
level of panic and hysteria as a true bioterrorist attack or a
purely agricultural attack using a more dangerous pathogen.
• RVF is an arthropod-borne disease primarily of sheep, cattle,
and goats.
• It has a 100% mortality rate for young animals, as well as the
ability to cause severe illness and sometimes death in adult
animals.
• It can be transmitted to a number of domestic animals that
can act as reservoirs, such as cats and dogs.
• RVF can also be transmitted to humans by certain species of
mosquitoes where it can cause severe illness and sometimes
death.
Source: Carl Ungerer (2006). The Threat of Agroterrorism to Australia: A Preliminary Assessment.

13. The threat of Foot and Mouth
Disease (FMD)
• FMD presents the most ominous threat to the region and is a
dangerous pathogen that is ideal for agroterrorists.
• FMD remains endemic in South America, Africa, and Asia.
• An especially contagious virus 20 times more infectious than
smallpox, FMD causes painful blisters on the tongues, hooves,
and teats of cloven-hoofed animals, including cattle, hogs,
sheep, goats, and deer, rendering them unable to walk, give
milk, eat, or drink.
• Although people generally cannot contract the disease, they
can carry the virus in their lungs for up to 48 hours and transmit
it to animals.
• The animal-to-animal airborne transmission range is 50 miles.

14. Survival of FMV viruses
• An infected animal can shred the virus in large quantities
from its upper respiratory tract via drooling, coughing, and
discharging mucus.
• Extremely stable, FMD can survive in straw or clothing for
1 month and spread up to 100 kilometers via the wind.
• Because herds exist as highly crowded populations bred
and reared in extremely close proximity to one another, a
significant risk exists that such pathogenic agents as FMD
will spread well beyond the locus of a specific outbreak
before officials become aware of a problem.
• An FMD outbreak could spread very fast in a few days
simply through the regulated movement of animals from
farm to market.

15. Geographical distribution of
seven pools of FMD virus

16. The threat of Avian influenza
• An influenza virus Type A - especially one genetically
manipulated for increased virulence - would be an attractive
weapon for bioterrorists.
• The possibility for genetic engineering and aerosol
transmission suggests an enormous potential for bioterrorism.
• The H5N1 virus would need to be engineered to affect the
binding preference of the HA protein, viral transmissibility from
human to human would need to be considered, formulation to
maintain viability and virulence would need to be undertaken,
and the resulting product would need to be prepared in a way
to ensure effective dissemination to the target population.

17. The spread of Avian influenza
• Unlike the dramatic diaspora of H5N1 in 2005-2006 -
when a single HPAI virus jumped from 15 Southeast Asian
countries to more than 60 nations across Europe and the
Middle East - we're watching more than a half dozen
subtypes (H5N1, H5N8, H5N6, H7N9, H7Nx, and H5Nx)
spreading around the world.
• As they spread, these viruses continue to evolve into new
genotypes, and increasingly, are producing new subtypes
as well. Clade 2.3.4.4. H5 viruses (H5N8 in particular),
has spun off multiple subtypes (H5N2, H5N1, H5N5, etc.)
in Taiwan, North America, France, and Northern Europe.
Source: http://afludiary.blogspot.co.id/2017/01/the-fog-of-bird-flu.html

18. Global Epidemiologi of Human H5N1 cases
• 907 human H5N1 cases between May 1997 and April 2015.
• The number of affected countries rose in 2003-2008, with expansion
from east & southeast Asia, then to west Asia & Africa.
• Most cases (67.2%) occurred from December to March, and the
overall CFR was 483 (53.5%) of 903 cases which varied across
geographical regions.

19. H7N9 human cases and positive
findings in birds or the environment
Number of human cases: 1320 confirmed; 492 deaths (since February 2013)

20. Outbreak Map of H5N8 in Asia, Europe, Africa
and Middle East with pandemic potential
• 29 countries
• 5 domestic bird infected
• 88 wild bird spesies infected
• No. of human cases: none

21. Consequences of Agroterrorism
• The outbreak of any infectious disease whether accidentally or
intentionally introduced into a population has significant
consequences for country’s security.
• Direct economic losses (loss in production, the costs of purchasing
drugs, vaccines, pesticides, the costs associated with diagnostic
and veterinarian services).
• The loss of international trade through ban and tighter quarantine
measures, the loss of contracts and a reduction in domestic
consumption.
• The indirect economic costs and multiplier effects include:
– losses to the feed industry due to decreased domestic requirements;
– losses to the transportation industry due to decreased movement of
animals and animal products;
– losses to the retail industry due to falls in domestic consumption as well as
increased supply costs; and
– potential losses to the tourism industry due to the stigma associated with
an outbreak of an infectious disease.
Source: Carl Ungerer (2006). The Threat of Agroterrorism to Australia: A Preliminary Assessment.

22. Factors influence the agroterrorism
1. the severity of a particular disease, the host range, and
the size of the infected geographical area;
2. the ability of the government authorities to successfully
contain and deal with the outbreak; and
3. the involvement of the media could affect public morale
and hence their response to such an event.
Source: Carl Ungerer (2006). The Threat of Agroterrorism to Australia: A Preliminary Assessment.

23. Summary (1)
• More than 70% of all transmittable human diseases are
contracted from animals (zoonosis).
• Animal production for human consumption increases in SE
Asia, the threat of newly emerging pathogens that can spread
between animals and people and cross borders even before
symptoms began to appear also increases.
• Although agroterrorism considered as a threat in SE Asian
countries, but the issue receive limited attention, both in the
political and the public realms.
• Although there is significant “cross-over” between the response
to an outbreak due to accidental introduction and a deliberate
agroterrorist attack, the magnitude of such events could differ
quite dramatically.

24. Summary (2)
• Robust well-governed animal and human health system
are resilient and provide protection against a spectrum of
threats from naturally occuring diseases to emerging
diseases, agroterrorism and laboratory accidents (OIE,
2015).