http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/news/86256B51006BC7AB86256B6C0074E61C?OpenDocument&highlight=2%2Cfarmers%2Cfbi?opendocument&headline=FBI+agents+tells+Missouri+farmers+to+keep+alert+for+terrorism
FBI agents tells Missouri farmers to keep alert for terrorism By Tim Higgins Associated Press Writer 02/26/2002 03:23 PM JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Farmers are the nation's first line of defense against terrorist attacks on the food supply through contamination of crops or livestock, an FBI agent told Missouri farmers Tuesday. David Cudmore, Kansas City coordinator of the FBI's unit in charge of fighting weapons of mass destruction, told a Missouri Farm Bureau conference that farmers must be alert to suspicious developments. ``If you suspect something, report it and tell them why: 'There's something weird with my crops. They're turning a color I've never seen before,''' Cudmore said. Beyond wiping out a herd, the deliberate exposure of animals to a biological agent such as foot-and-mouth disease would hurt the nation's economy and send waves of fear across the country, Cudmore said. He said it would be easy for a person to bring a piece of infected material into the United States and spread it to livestock. ``If a person takes a rag, puts it on the nose of a cow with foot-and-mouth disease, then puts it in his pocket, keeps it wet, gets on a plane, flies over to the Midwest -- if he just shook a farmer's hand, boom!'' Cudmore said. Cudmore said he was more worried about biological attacks against agriculture than anthrax attacks against people. Still, the FBI in Kansas City has responded to 45 anthrax scares, Cudmore said. No person has been charged with a crime. Anthrax was discovered last fall at a Kansas City postal facility. About 250 people were advised to take antibiotics as a precaution but no one became ill, and the facility reopened after two weeks. Authorities field a lot of calls about nothing more than a white powdery substance on a kitchen counter or garage floor, Cudmore said. He told farmers that if they detect something amiss, they should first try to gather information about it. ``If you can't figure out the explanation for why something is going on, you've got to report it,'' Cudmore said. ---- And cover those udders! You're embarressing Ashcroft!
