An Iowa State University researcher is leading a national committee that’s studying the potential impact of bioterrorism on the United States. Harley Moon is also the chair of I-S-U’s Department of Veterinary Medicine Moon says they’re concentrating on bioterrorism on farms, rather than terrorist acts that involve poisons in processed food. The committee is funded through the National Research Council with help from U-S-D-A. Moon says they want to find out if there are weaknesses in the country’s ability to deal with such an event.He says it’s unlikely a terrorist attack could wipe out the entire food supply, but he says an attack could substantially damage the nation’s economy. Moon cites the recent “foot-and-mouth” outbreak in the U-K as an example of what happened. He says residents of Britain didn’t go hungry, but their economy has taken a devastating hit from the disease. Moon says they’ll release a final report on their findings in June 2002. I-S-U economics professor Helen Jensen is also on the committee.
Iowa's Radio News Network
