Exercise to Focus on State and Community’s Plan to Respond to Foreign Animal Disease

MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA) will lead an emergency preparedness exercise Sept. 22- 24, 2014, in Clay, Lyon, Riley and Pottawatomie counties, to practice the state’s response plan to a foreign animal disease. 

The functional exercise will involve state and county emergency response teams practicing the state and local animal disease response plan. Nearly 100 individuals will participate in the exercise, which will be based on the confirmation of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) in Kansas. According to Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Jackie McClaskey, the exercise will provide valuable preparation experience for the agency and all stakeholders, as well as identify gaps in the response plan.

“We have a responsibility to be prepared to respond to an incident that could have significant economic effect upon our state’s largest industry,” McClaskey said.  “That includes making sure our local partners also understand and can effectively respond in the case of an animal health emergency.”

The exercise will allow state and local officials  to evaluate plans and procedures that have been refined since the RIPSTOP exercise conducted with statewide agencies and stakeholders in October 2013. The KDA Division of Animal Health has been working with more than 50 stakeholders from a variety of agencies and associations to refine plans and develop Memorandums of Understanding with border states to ensure collaboration and continuity of business for the livestock industry should a highly contagious disease outbreak occur in the United States. Clay, Riley, Lyon and Pottawatomie counties will activate their Emergency Operations Centers (EOC) and establish local task forces to respond to the simulated local outbreaks. 

FMD was last identified in the United States in 1929. FMD is a highly contagious disease of cattle, sheep, swine, goats, deer and other cloven-hooved animals. FMD is not a human food safety concern or public health threat. It is a primary concern for animal health officials because it could have potentially devastating economic consequences due to disrupted trade and lost investor confidence.

The exercise has been funded with a DHS grant awarded to the Northeast and North Central homeland security regions.

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