2008 Agricultural Incident Response and Investigation Training

Joint Training for Public Health, Animal Health, and Law Enforcement Officials
This awareness-level course was designed for delivery to public health, animal health and law enforcement officials as well as any other agency or organization that may be involved in the response to an agricultural incident. The course is designed as a 1 day face-to-face training that describes the roles of the main agencies during the response to and investigation of agricultural incidents. The information presented during this course will enable participants to better understand how the roles and responsibilities of their agency will contribute to the successful containment and eradication of the disease agent while ensuring the health and safety of responders and the affected community.
 
This course consists of 5 teaching modules. These modules include a module providing an overview of the threat to agriculture in the United States and four modules that each addresses agricultural incidents, such as an outbreak of a foreign animal disease, from a diagnostic or agency specific perspective. Included in each module are recent cases of food outbreaks and other agriculture-related incidents that serve as examples. The course concludes with a scenario-based discussion that allows participants to apply the information presented during the training. An outline of the course is provided below.
 
For more information on this course or for a copy of the course materials, please contact Will Bruer,  rwbruer@uab.edu.
 
Course Outline
Module 1: Public Health and Agriculture
Agroterrorism, Zoonotic and Foreign Animal Disease Vulnerabilities and Threats
Module objectives:
• Explain the concept of, and define agroterrorism
• Describe how foreign animal diseases may be introduced
• Describe the characteristics of possible agroterrorism agents and agents of concern
• Understand the likely impacts of zoonotic and foreign animal diseases
 
Module 2: Law Enforcement and Agriculture
The Role of Law Enforcement During Agricultural Incidents
Module objectives:
• Describe roles of various law enforcement agencies
• Describe FBI’s WMD Program
• Outline criminal investigative methods
• Describe law enforcement operations and procedures
• Discuss possible roles of law enforcement in agricultural incidents
 
Module 3: Public Health and Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratories
National Laboratory Networks, State Resources and Diagnostic Methods
Module objectives:
• Describe the national framework for animal health and public health diagnostic laboratories
• Describe some of the methods used for testing samples
• Explain general testing timelines for biological samples
 
Module 4: Agriculture
Roles and Responsibilities of the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries
Module objectives:
• Describe the legal authorities of the Alabama Department of Agriculture & Industries
• Describe on-going disease surveillance programs in Alabama
• Explain the animal disease containment and eradication process
• Describe the emergency response capacity of ADAI
 
Module 5: Public Health and Agriculture
An Outline of Possible Roles of Public Health Personnel During Agricultural Incidents
Module objectives:
• Provide an overview of the goal of “Public Health”
• Describe the direct and indirect hazards associated with zoonotic and foreign animal diseases
• Describe possible traditional and non-traditional roles public health personnel may have during an agricultural disease outbreak.