Informing resilience building: FAO’s Surveillance Evaluation Tool (SET) Biothreat Detection Module will help assess national capacities to detect agro-terrorism and agro-crime

Abstract

Attacks using animal pathogens can have devastating socioeconomic, public health and national security consequences. The livestock sector has some inherent vulnerabilities which put it at risk to the deliberate or accidental spread of disease. The growing concern of countries about the risks of agro-terrorism and agro-crime has led to efforts to prepare against potential attacks. One recent international effort is the launch of a joint OIE, FAO and INTERPOL project in 2019 to build resilience against agro-terrorism and agro-crime targeting animal health with the financial support of the Weapons Threat Reduction Programme of Global Affairs Canada. Given the importance of strong animal health surveillance systems for the early and effective response to agro-terrorism and agro-crime, the project will use the FAO Surveillance Evaluation Tool (SET) and its new Biothreat Detection Module to evaluate beneficiary countries’ capacities to detect criminal or terrorist animal health events. This paper presents the development of the new SET Biothreat Detection Module and how it will be used to evaluate surveillance for agro-terrorism and agro-crime animal disease threats. The module will be piloted in early 2021 and, once finalized, will be used by beneficiary countries of the joint OIE-FAO-INTERPOL project. Results from evaluations using SET and its Biothreat Detection Module are expected to provide a baseline from which countries can build targeted capacity for animal disease surveillance including early detection and investigation of potential terrorist or criminal events involving zoonotic and non-zoonotic animal pathogens.

A systematic approach toward progressive improvement of national antimicrobial resistance surveillance systems in food and agriculture sectors

“…The FAO tool dedicated to the evaluation of national surveillance in animal health ( 11 )–FAO-SET–by selecting and adapting some questions relevant to AMR surveillance,…”

Animal Agrocrime: An Overlooked Biological Threat

“…Since October 2018, WOAH, the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have been working on a joint project aimed at building resilience against agrocrime and agroterrorism by fostering coordination between law enforcement and veterinary services. 6 , 38 This project assesses the global landscape for agrocrime and agroterrorism, 39 , 40 identifies solutions to improve preparedness for these threats, 41 and delivers capacity-building activities such as training workshops and simulation exercises. 42…”

Addressing biohazards to food security in primary production

“…At the international level, there are initiatives for capacity building. A good example of efforts to improve resilience to agroterrorism is the OIE-FAO-INTERPOL project containing the bio-threat detection module SET (Vasconcelos Gioia et al, 2021).…”