Editing Agricultural policy (section)

===Biosecurity===
{{main|Biosecurity}}
The biosecurity concerns facing industrial agriculture can be illustrated by:
* the threat to poultry and humans from [[H5N1]]; possibly caused by the use of animal vaccines
* the threat to cattle and humans from bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE); possibly caused by the unnatural feeding of cattle to cattle to minimize costs
* the threat to industry profits from diseases like foot-and-mouth disease and citrus canker which increasing globalization makes harder to contain

====Avian influenza====
{{See also|Social effects of H5N1|Fujian flu}}
The use of animal vaccines can create new viruses that kill people and cause [[flu pandemic]] threats. [[H5N1]] is an example of where this might have already occurred. According to the [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention|CDC]] article "H5N1 Outbreaks and Enzootic Influenza" by [[Robert G. Webster]] et al.: "Transmission of highly pathogenic H5N1 from domestic poultry back to migratory waterfowl in western China has increased the geographic spread. The spread of H5N1 and its likely reintroduction to domestic poultry increase the need for good agricultural vaccines. In fact, the root cause of the continuing H5N1 pandemic threat may be the way the pathogenicity of H5N1 viruses is masked by co-circulating influenza viruses or bad agricultural vaccines."<ref>([https://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol12no01/05-1024.htm CDC] ''H5N1 Outbreaks and Enzootic Influenza'' by [[Robert G. Webster]] et al.)</ref> Robert Webster explains: "If you use a good vaccine you can prevent the transmission within poultry and to humans. But if they have been using vaccines now [in China] for several years, why is there so much bird flu? There is bad vaccine that stops the disease in the bird but the bird goes on pooping out the virus and maintaining it and changing it. And I think this is what is going on in China. It has to be. Either there is not enough vaccine being used or there is substandard vaccine being used. Probably both. It's not just China. We can't blame China for substandard vaccines. I think there are substandard vaccines for influenza in poultry all over the world."<ref>([https://web.archive.org/web/20051231072329/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10639567/ MSNBC quoting Reuters quoting Robert G. Webster])</ref>

In response to the same concerns, Reuters reports Hong Kong infectious disease expert Lo Wing-lok indicating that vaccines have to take top priority. Julie Hall, who is in charge of the WHO's outbreak response in China, claimed that China's vaccinations might be masking the virus.<ref>([http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HKG28205.htm Reuters])</ref> The BBC reported that Wendy Barclay, a virologist at the University of Reading, UK said: "The Chinese have made a vaccine based on reverse genetics made with H5N1 antigens, and they have been using it. There has been a lot of criticism of what they have done because they have protected their chickens against death from this virus but the chickens still get infected, and then you get the drift - the virus mutates in response to the antibodies - and now we have a situation where we have five or six 'flavours' of H5N1 out there."<ref>([http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4737276.stm BBC] ''Bird flu vaccine no silver bullet'' 22 February 2006)</ref>

====Bovine spongiform encephalopathy====
{{main|Bovine spongiform encephalopathy}}

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as "mad cow disease", is a fatal, [[neurodegenerative]] disease of [[cattle]], which infects by a mechanism that surprised biologists upon its discovery in the late 20th century. In the UK, the country worst affected, 179,000 cattle were infected and 4.4 million were killed as a precaution.<ref name=Brown>Brown, David. [https://web.archive.org/web/20071214085245/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2000/10/27/nbse527.xml "The 'recipe for disaster' that killed 80 and left a £5bn bill"], ''The Daily Telegraph'', June 19, 2001.</ref> The disease can be transmitted to human beings who eat or inhale material from infected carcasses.{{Citation needed|date=July 2007}} In humans, it is known as new [[variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease]] (vCJD or nvCJD), and by June 2007, it had killed 165 people in Britain, and six elsewhere<ref>[http://www.cjd.ed.ac.uk/vcjdworld.htm "Variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob Disease, June 2007"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120721234746/http://www.cjd.ed.ac.uk/vcjdworld.htm |date=July 21, 2012 }}, The National Creutzfeldt–Jakob Disease Surveillance Unit, University of Edinburgh. The number of dead in the UK from Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease had reached 1,206 by June 4, 2007.</ref> with the number expected to rise because of the disease's long incubation period. Between 460,000 and 482,000 BSE-infected animals had entered the human food chain before controls on high-risk [[offal]] were introduced in 1989.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1671737.stm "CJD deaths 'may have peaked'"], BBC News, November 13, 2001.</ref>

A British inquiry into BSE concluded that the epidemic was caused by feeding cattle, who are normally [[herbivore]]s, the remains of other cattle in the form of meat and bone meal (MBM), which caused the infectious agent to spread.<ref name="DEFRA/BSE">[http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/bse/controls-eradication/causes.html "BSE: Disease control & eradication - Causes of BSE"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012235547/http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/bse/controls-eradication/causes.html |date=2007-10-12 }}, Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, March 2007.</ref><ref>[http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/ "The BSE Inquiry"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010203064300/http://bseinquiry.gov.uk/ |date=2001-02-03 }}, led by Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, report published October 2000.</ref> The origin of the disease itself remains unknown. The current scientific view is that infectious proteins called [[prion]]s developed through spontaneous mutation, probably in the 1970s, and there is a possibility that the use of [[Organophosphate|organophosphorus pesticides]] increased the susceptibility of cattle to the disease.<ref>[http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/report/volume1/execsum4.htm "Volume 1: Findings and Conclusions. Executive Summary of the Report of the Inquiry. 3. The cause of BSE"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928075440/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/report/volume1/execsum4.htm |date=September 28, 2007 }}, Phillips Inquiry, October 2000.</ref> The infectious agent is distinctive for the high temperatures it is able to survive; this contributed to the spread of the disease in Britain, which had reduced the temperatures used during its [[Rendering (food processing)|rendering]] process.<ref name="DEFRA/BSE"/> Another contributory factor was the feeding of infected protein supplements to very young calves instead of milk from their mothers.<ref name="DEFRA/BSE"/><ref name=Harden>Harden, Blaine. [http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=madcowdairy28&date=20031228 "Supplements used in factory farming can spread disease"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080302204242/http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=madcowdairy28&date=20031228 |date=2008-03-02 }}, ''The Washington Post'', December 28, 2003.</ref>

====Foot-and-mouth disease====
{{main|Foot and mouth disease}}
Foot-and-mouth disease is a [[infectious disease|highly contagious]] and sometimes fatal [[virus (biology)|viral]] [[disease]] of [[cattle]] and [[pig]]s. It can also infect [[deer]], [[goat]]s, [[Domestic sheep|sheep]], and other [[bovid]]s with [[Cloven-hoof|cloven hooves]], as well as [[elephant]]s, [[rat]]s, and [[hedgehog]]s. Humans are affected only very rarely. FMD occurs throughout much of the world, and while some countries have been free of FMD for some time, its wide host range and rapid spread represent cause for international concern. In 1996, endemic areas included [[Asia]], [[Africa]], and parts of [[South America]]. [[North America]], [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]] and [[Japan]] have been free of FMD for many years. Most [[Europe]]an countries have been recognized as free, and countries belonging to the [[European Union]] have stopped FMD [[vaccination]].

Infection with foot-and-mouth disease tends to occur locally, that is, the virus is passed on to susceptible animals through direct contact with infected animals or with contaminated pens or vehicles used to transport livestock. The clothes and skin of animal handlers such as farmers, standing water, and uncooked food scraps and feed supplements containing infected animal products can harbor the virus as well. Cows can also catch FMD from the semen of infected bulls. Control measures include quarantine and destruction of infected livestock, and export bans for meat and other animal products to countries not infected with the disease.

Because FMD rarely infects humans but spreads rapidly among animals, it is a much greater threat to the agriculture industry than to human health. Farmers around the world can lose huge amounts of money during a foot-and-mouth epidemic, when large numbers of animals are destroyed and revenues from milk and meat production go down. One of the difficulties in vaccinating against FMD is the huge variation between and even within serotypes. There is no cross-protection between [[serotype]]s (meaning that a vaccine for one serotype won't protect against any others) and in addition, two [[strain (biology)|strains]] within a given serotype may have [[DNA|nucleotide]] sequences that differ by as much as 30% for a given gene. This means that FMD [[vaccine]]s must be highly specific to the strain involved. Vaccination only provides temporary [[immune system|immunity]] that lasts from months to years. Therefore, rich countries maintain a policy of banning imports from all countries, not proven FMD-free by US or EU standards. This is a point of contention.

Although this disease is not dangerous to humans and rarely fatal to otherwise healthy animals, it reduces milk and meat production. Outbreaks can be stopped quickly if farmers and transporters are forced to abide by existing rules. Therefore, (besides temporary discomfort to the animals), any outbreak in the rich world should not be much more as a localized, cyclical economic problem. For countries with free roaming wildlife it is nearly impossible to prove that they are entirely free of this disease. If they try they are forced to erect nationwide fences, which destroys wildlife migration. Because detecting and reporting of FMD have enormously improved and sped up, almost all poor countries could now safely create FMD-free export zones. But rich countries refuse to change the rules. In effect, many poor tropical countries have no chance to meet current rules, so they are still today banned from exporting meat, even if many of them are FMD-free.

The result is that if drought hits, the poor try to cope by selling their few animals. This quickly saturates regional demand. The export ban then destroys the value of these animals, in effect destroying the most important coping mechanism of several hundreds of millions extremely poor households. The rules around meat exports have been changed many times, always to accommodate changing circumstances in rich countries, usually further reducing meat export chances for poor countries. For that reason, Kanya and many other countries find the rules very unjust. They are however discouraged to file a formal complaint with WTO by diplomats from rich countries.

====Citrus canker====
{{main|Citrus canker}}
Citrus canker is a disease affecting [[citrus]] species that is caused by the bacterium ''Xanthomonas axonopodis''. The infection causes lesions on the leaves, stems, and [[fruit]] of citrus trees, including lime, oranges, and grapefruit. While not harmful to humans, canker significantly affects the vitality of citrus trees, causing leaves and fruit to drop prematurely; a fruit infected with canker is safe to eat but too unsightly to be sold. The disease, which is believed to have originated in [[South East Asia]], is extremely persistent when it becomes established in an area, making it necessary for all citrus orchards to be destroyed for the successful eradication of the disease. [[Australia]], [[Brazil]] and the [[United States]] are currently experiencing canker outbreaks.{{when|date=May 2022}}

The disease can be detected in [[orchard]]s and on fruit by the appearance of lesions. Early detection is critical in quarantine situations. Bacteria are tested for pathogenicity by inoculating multiple citrus species with the bacterium. Simultaneously, other diagnostic tests (antibody detection, fatty-acid profiling, and genetic procedures using [[Polymerase chain reaction|PCR]]) are conducted to identify the particular canker strain. Citrus canker outbreaks are prevented and managed in a number of ways. In countries that do not have canker, the disease is prevented from entering the country by quarantine measures. In countries with new outbreaks, eradication programs that are started soon after the disease has been discovered have been successful; such programs rely on the destruction of affected orchards. When eradication has been unsuccessful and the disease has become established, management options include replacing susceptible citrus cultivars with resistant cultivars, applying preventive sprays of [[copper]]-based [[bactericide]]s, and destroying infected trees and all surrounding trees within an appropriate radius.

The citrus industry is the largest fresh-fruit exporting industry in Australia.<ref name="auscitrus">{{cite web|url=http://www.austcitrus.org.au/|title=Aust Citrus -|website=Aust Citrus|access-date=2007-10-17|archive-date=2011-11-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111127231917/http://austcitrus.org.au/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Australia has had three outbreaks of citrus canker; all three were successfully eradicated. The disease was found twice during the 1900s in the [[Northern Territory]] and was eradicated each time. During the first outbreak in 1912, every citrus tree north of [[19th parallel south|latitude 19° south]] was destroyed, taking 11 years to eradicate the disease.<ref name="dpi">Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries. [http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/health/4249.html Exotic plant pests - citrus canker] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060826140309/http://www2.dpi.qld.gov.au/health/4249.html |date=2006-08-26 }}</ref> In 2004, Asiatic citrus canker was detected in an orchard in [[Emerald, Queensland|Emerald]], [[Queensland]], and was thought to have occurred from the illegal import of infected citrus plants. The state and federal governments have ordered that all commercial orchards, all non-commercial citrus trees, and all native lime trees (''C. glauca'') in the vicinity of Emerald be destroyed rather than trying to isolate infected trees.