Diseases

Dayton recently had a case of leprosy confirmed. The woman was only identified as a middle-aged immigrant woman. Leprosy is often thought of as a biblical scourge that is no longer part of the modern lexicon. Leprosy has not been eradicated and in the United States there have been 47 cases so far this year according to the Center for Disease Control. While certainly not a epidemic, the Dayton case should remind us how modern travel can quickly move a disease from a remote part of the world to another within a matter of hours.

The very fact that we are only a plane ride away from some very dangerous diseases gets overlook with talk about avian flu. Avian flu, or H5N1, is most likely to cause the next flu pandemic IF it ever mutates into a variant able to transfer from human-to-human. On the other hand, bubonic plague is endemic in isolated areas in the Southwestern United states. Human infection occurs if the person is bitten by a flea carrying the disease. Fleas get the disease from biting rodents infected with the disease. Although isolated for now, if an infected rat or flea got into a more populated area of the United States and outbreak would surely occur.

Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite. People with malaria often experience fever, chills, and flu-like illness. Left untreated, they may develop severe complications and die. Each year 350-500 million cases of malaria occur worldwide, and over one million people die, most of them young children in sub-Saharan Africa. In the United States, 893 cases have been reported this year.

Ebola virus, or hemorrhagic fever, poses a unique hazard. Infections with Ebola virus are acute. There is no carrier state. Because the natural reservoir of the virus is unknown, the manner in which the virus first appears in a human at the start of an outbreak has not been determined. However, researchers have hypothesized that the first patient becomes infected through contact with an infected animal. After the first case-patient in an outbreak setting is infected, the virus can be transmitted in several ways. People can be exposed to Ebola virus from direct contact with the blood and/or secretions of an infected person. Thus, the virus is often spread through families and friends because they come in close contact with such secretions when caring for infected persons. People can also be exposed to Ebola virus through contact with objects, such as needles, that have been contaminated with infected secretions. An infected individual could board an aircraft and fly into a highly populated area before symptoms are noticed.

These are some of the more frightening diseases that could be transported via an unsuspecting human host. But as we have seen in the news our food supplies are vulnerable to poor hygienic practices resulting in recent outbreaks of E. Coli. As afar as we know, these were all accidental but that may not always be the case. Professor Larry Wein of Stanford University estimates an intentional attack on our food supply could result in 100,000 deaths. Milk and cattle are especially vulnerable due to number of people that consume these products as well as the openness of most livestock farms. For example, a cattle ranch in Kansas has 18,000 head of cattle. Their feed could be tainted with some type of toxin or the animals could be injected. Ranchers are taking this threat seriously and are beginning to protect their ranches and farms with new technology.

It stands to reason if livestock could be the targets of a terrorist attack, orchards or fields of produce are even easier to taint. With livestock the terrorist would have to introduce some type of toxin that would not immediately kill the animal or show signs of infection before it were slaughtered. Produce offers a greater ranged of pathogens that could be introduced that would not kill the vegetable or fruit. Large super farms have hundreds of acres of crops that are left largely unguarded. As most crops are washed before shipping, the pathogen would have to be something that is absorbed into the crop through the soil. Or as had happened already, the pathogen could be introduced at the packaging plant. Farmers and growers will have to become even more aware of the potential for terrorists to use their produce as a weapon. Safety and security for farmers is growing beyond simply worrying about vandals and thieves.

The intentional introduction of a disease or pathogen into our food supply may seem like the stuff of novels, however the threat is very real. Unlike other weapons of mass destruction, attacking our food supplies could be done with little risk of the terrorist dying before his or her mission is completed. Regarding diseases, if terrorists are able to recruit young people and convince them to become suicide bombers, then it does not appear to be a stretch to intentionally infect someone with a contagious disease. Imagine a terrorist purposely being infected with smallpox and then flying into a major airport. While there, he or she goes around and touches as many people as possible. It would be a low tech approach to committing germ warfare.

Cincinnati is blessed with a large number of world-class hospitals on both sides of the Ohio River. The cause for concern is not if doctors would be able to identify the cause of an outbreak but rather how long. Cincinnati has many direct non-stop flights daily with passengers arriving from around the world. What gets overlooked is the number of cargo flights that bring in food stuff from other parts of the world. Whether intentional or accidental, Cincinnati could be facing something far worse than an outbreak of leprosy