Special Considerations Intentional Contamination of Food or Water with Biologic Agents

Special Considerations Intentional Contamination of Food or Water with Biologic Agents 

It is difficult to predict the vulnerability of our food and water supply to a deliberate attack. Within most industriahzed countries, food and water supplies are safe for consumption. However, the increased centralization of food production and water distribution in the United States gives potential saboteurs an opportunity to affect a large population (67). For large centralized food or water production and distribution systems, the potential size of an outbreak following intentional contamination increases as the contamination point gets closer to the site of production or distribution. In addition to morbidity and mortality, deliberate attacks on food and water supplies could have significant economic impact, even if the affected population is relatively small (67,68). Although the contamination was not intentional, in 1998 a US company recalled 30 million pounds of frankfurters and luncheon meat due to possible Listeria contamination, at a cost of 50- 70 million (67). 

Previous examples illustrate how terrorists could contaminate food with biologic agents. 

Other examples of accidental contamination demonstrate the potential size of outbreaks from contamination closer to the source of production or distribution. In 1993, an estimated 403,000 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, residents developed diarrhea due to Cryptosporidia contamination of the municipal drinking water system. Four thousand people required hospitalization and authorities attributed cryptosporidio-sis as the underlying or contributing cause of death for 54 Milwaukee residents (68). In 1994, cross contamination of ice cream premix transported in a truck that had carried liquid, unpasteurized eggs affected 224,000 individuals in 41 states with Salmonella enteritidis (67). In 2000, E. coli 0157 H7 contamination of the Walkerton, Ontario municipal water supply affected over 2,000 residents and caused seven deaths (68). 

A few examples illustrate how the globalization of food production and distribution provides another potential source of vulnerability. United States consumers obtain more than 75% of their seasonal fresh fruit and 60% of their seafood from foreign sources (67). Contaminated Guatemalan strawberries caused an outbreak of 

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