Scenario 14

Biological Attack –

Foreign Animal Disease

(Foot-and Mouth Disease)

Casualties	None
Infrastructure Damage	None
Evacuations/Displaced Persons	None
Contamination	None
Economic Impact	Hundreds of millions of dollars
Potential for Multiple Events	Yes
Recovery Timeline	Months

Although this scenario depicts an intentional attack on the U.S. livestock industry, the accidental importation of certain diseases is also a hazard.

Scenario General Description

Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) is an acute infectious viral disease that causes blisters, fever, and lameness in cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle and swine. Pregnant animals often abort and dairy cattle may dry up. FMD spreads rapidly among such animals and can be fatal in young animals. The disease is not considered a human threat.

In this scenario, European members of the Universal Adversary (UA) – represented by Organization for Animal Liberation (OAL), an extreme animal rights group – enter the United States and join American members to survey large operations in the livestock industries. THE UA targets several locations for a coordinated bioterrorism attack on the agricultural industry. Approximately 2 months later, UA teams enter the United States and infect farm animals at specific locations.