George Mason University – Graduate Council
Graduate Course Approval Form
All courses numbered 500 or above must be submitted to the Graduate Council for final approval after approval by the
sponsoring College, School or Institute.
Graduate Council requires submission of this form for a new course or any change to existing courses. For a new course,
please attach a copy of the syllabus and catalog description (with catalog credit format, e.g. 3:2:1). The designated
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Coordinator Form if the proposed changes will affect other units.
Note: Colleges, Schools or Institutes are responsible for submitting new or modified catalog descriptions (35 words or less,
using catalog format) to Creative Services by deadlines outlined in the yearly Catalog production calendar.
Please indicate: New X
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Department/Unit: Public and International Affairs
Course Subject/Number: BIOD 726
Submitted by: Gregory Koblentz, Deputy Director
Ext: 3-1266
Email: gkoblent@gmu.edu
Course Title: Agroterrorism and Food Security
Effective Term (New/Modified Courses only): fall 2008
Credit Hours: (Fixed) 3:3:0
(Var.)
to
Repeat Status*(check one): X
term
NR-Not repeatable
Final Term (deleted courses only):
Grade Type (check one):
X
Regular graduate (A, B, C, etc.)
Satisfactory/No Credit only
Special graduate (A, B, C, etc. + IP)
RD-Repeatable within degree
*Note: Used only for special topics, independent study, or internships courses
RT-Repeatable within
Total Number of Hours Allowed:
Schedule Type Code(s): 1. LEC LEC=Lecture SEM=Seminar STU=Studio INT=Internship
IND=Independent Study 2.
LAB=Lab RCT=Recitation (second code used only for courses with Lab or Rct component)
Prereq X Coreq
(Check one):
BIOD 604 and BIOD 605; or permission of instructor.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Note: Modified courses - review prereq or coreq for necessary changes; Deleted courses - review other courses to correct prereqs that list the deleted course.
Description of Modification (for modified courses):
Special Instructions (major/college/class code restrictions, if needed):
Department/Unit Approval Signature:_________________________________________ Date: _____________
College/School Committee Approval Signature:__________________________________ Date:_____________
Graduate Council Approval Date:____________ Provost Office Signature:_________________________________
George Mason University
Graduate Course Coordination Form
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these units must approve this change prior to its being submitted to the Graduate Council for approval.
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Graduate Council approval: ______________________________________________ Date: ____________
Graduate Council representative: __________________________________________
Date: ____________
Provost Office representative: ____________________________________________
Date: ____________
Dept of Public and International Affairs
Biodefense Graduate Programs
4400 University Dr., MS 3F4, Fairfax, VA 22030
Phone: 703-993-9626; Fax: 703-993-1399
To:
CHSS Curriculum Committee
Cc:
Marylou Holly, Academic Coordinator
From: Dr. Gregory Koblentz, Director, Biodefense program
Email: gkoblent@gmu.edu
Date:
October 23, 2007
Subject: BIOD 726
New Course Title: Agroterrorism and Food Security
Justification: This new course will broaden the scope of the Biodefense Program from a focus on antipersonnel bioterrorist and biowarfare threats to examine natural and man-made threats to agriculture in the
United States and abroad. Students have repeatedly requested a course of this type due to increasing interest
in the field of agroterrorism by Congress and policy-makers.
_______________________________________________
Dr. Robert L. Dudley, Chair, Public and International Affairs Dept.
George Mason University
Department of Public and International Affairs
Course Number: BIOD 726
Course Title: Agroterrorism and Food Security
Course Description: Analyzes the threat of agricultural terrorism, including assessments of the chemical and
biological agents that can be used to disrupt agriculture and livestock and the national and global economic and
social impacts of these disruptions. The course will also examine strategies for enhancing the security of the food
production and supply systems.
Assessment:
The final grade will be calculated as follows:
Mid-Term Exam
Final Exam
Research Paper
Attendance and Participation
30%
30%
30%
10%
Required Textbooks:
C. Brown and C. Bolin, eds., Emerging Diseases of Animals (Washington, DC: ASM Press, 2000).
Simon Whitby, Biological Warfare Against Crops (New York: Palgrave, 2002).
George N. Agrios, Plant Pathology, 4th edition (New York: Academic Press, 2004).
National Research Council, Countering Agricultural Bioterrorism (Washington, DC: National Academies
Press, 2002).
Syllabus
WEEK 1: Introduction
M. Hugh-Jones and C.C. Brown, “Accidental and intentional animal disease outbreaks: assessing the risk
and preparing an effective response,” Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 2006, 25 (1), pp. 21-33.
Terrance M. Wilson, Linda Logan-Henfrey, Richard Weller, and Barry Kellman, “Agroterrorism, Biological
Crimes, and Biological Warfare Targeting Animal Agriculture,” in C. Brown and C. Bolin, eds., Emerging Diseases
of Animals (Washington, DC: ASM Press, 2000).
LA Meyerson and JK Reaser, “Biosecurity: moving toward a comprehensive approach,” BioScience 52
(2002), pp. 593–600.
Paul S. Mead, Laurence Slutsker, Vance Dietz, Linda F. McCaig, Joseph S. Bresee, Craig Shapiro, Patricia
M. Griffin, and Robert V. Tauxe, “Food-Related Illness and Death in the United States,” Emerging Infectious
Diseases, Vol. 5, No. 5 (September-October 1999), pp. 607-625.
WEEK 2: History of Anti-Agriculture Warfare and Terrorism
Mark Wheelis, “Biological Sabotage in World War I,” in Erhard Geissler and John Ellis van Courtland
Moon, eds., Biological and Toxin Weapons: Research, Development and Use From the Middle Ages to 1945, SIPRI
Chemical and Biological Warfare Study No. 18 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), pp. 35-62.
Simon Whitby, “Anticrop Biological Weapons Programs,” in Mark Wheelis, Lajos Rózsa, and Malcolm
Dando, eds., Deadly Cultures: Biological Weapons Since 1945 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press,
2006), pp. 213-223.
Piers Millet, “Antianimal Biological Weapons Program,” in Mark Wheelis, Lajos Rózsa, and Malcolm
Dando, eds., Deadly Cultures: Biological Weapons Since 1945 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press,
2006), pp. 224-235.
Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Chronology of CBW Incidents Targeting Agriculture and Food Systems
1915-2006 (Monterey, CA: Monterey Institute of International Studies, June 2006),
http://cns.miis.edu/research/cbw/agchron.htm
WEEK 3: Animal Pathogens I
C. Brown and C. Bolin, eds., Emerging Diseases of Animals (Washington, DC: ASM Press, 2000).
WEEK 4: Animal Pathogens II
C. Brown and C. Bolin, eds., Emerging Diseases of Animals (Washington, DC: ASM Press, 2000).
WEEK 5: Plant Pathogens I
Simon Whitby, Biological Warfare Against Crops (New York: Palgrave, 2002).
George N. Agrios, Plant Pathology, 4th edition (New York: Academic Press, 2004).
WEEK 6: Plant Pathogens II
Simon Whitby, Biological Warfare Against Crops (New York: Palgrave, 2002).
George N. Agrios, Plant Pathology, 4th edition (New York: Academic Press, 2004).
WEEK 7: Food-Borne Diseases
Select chapters from Phyllis Entis, Food Safety: Old Habits, New Perspectives (ASM Press, 2006).
Select chapters from Michael P. Doyle, and Larry R. Beuchat, Food Microbiology: Fundamentals and
Frontiers, 3rd Edition (ASM Press, 2007).
Week 8: Vulnerability and Threat Assessment
Peter Chalk, Hitting America’s Soft Underbelly: The Potential Threat of Deliberate Biological Attacks
Against the U.S. Agricultural and Food Industry (Washington, DC: RAND, 2004).
O. Shawn Cupp, David E. Walker, and John Hillison, “Agroterrorism in the U.S.: Key Security Challenge
for the 21st Century,” Biosecurity and Bioterrorism, Vol. 2, No. 2 (2004), pp. 97-105.
Jeremy Sobel, Ali S Khan, David L Swerdlow, “Threat of a biological terrorist attack on the US food
supply: the CDC perspective,” Lancet, Vol. 359 (March 9, 2002), pp. 874-880.
Lawrence M. Wein and Yifan Liuy, “Analyzing a Bioterror Attack on the Food Supply: The Case of
Botulinum Toxin in Milk,” Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, Vol. 102, No. 28 (July 12, 2005), pp.
9984-9989.
National Research Council, Countering Agricultural Bioterrorism (Washington, DC: National Academies
Press, 2002).
Roco Cassagrande, “Biological Terrorism Targeted at Agriculture: The Threat to US National Security,”
Nonproliferation Review (Fall-Winter 2000), pp. 92-105.
Rocco Casagrande, “Biological Warfare Targeted at Livestock,” BioScience, Vol. 52, No. 7 (July 2002), pp.
577-581.
L.V. Madden and M.Wheelis, “The Threat of Plant Pathogens As Weapons Against US Crops,” Annu. Rev.
Phytopathol. 2003. 41:155–76.
Gavin Cameron and Jason Pate, “Covert Biological Weapons Attacks Against Agricultural Targets:
Assessing the Impact on US Agriculture,” Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 13, No. 3 (Autumn 2001), pp. 6182.
WEEK 9: Research and Development
Terrence Kelly, Peter Chalk, James Bomono, Brian Jackson, and Gary Cecchine, The Office of Science and
Technology Policy Blue Ribbon Panel on the Threat of Biological Terrorism Directed Against Livestock
(Washington, DC: RAND, 2004).
Dana A. Shea, Jim Monke, and Frank Gottron, The National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility: Issues for
Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, September 4, 2007).
Miller, A. J., C. L. Hielman, S. Droby, and N. Paster, “Science and technology based countermeasures to
foodborne terrorism: introduction,” J. Food Prot. 68 (2005), pp. 1253-1255.
WEEK 10: Prevention, Detection and Response
Homeland Security Council, Defense of United States Agriculture and Food, Homeland Security
Presidential Directive/HSPD-9 (Washington, DC: White House,
January 30, 2004).
Department of Homeland Security Inspector General, The Department of Homeland Security’s Role in Food
Defense and Critical Infrastructure Protection, OIG-07-33 (Washington, DC: Department of Homeland Security,
2007).
Government Accountability Office, Homeland Security: Much Is Being Done to Protect Agriculture from a
Terrorist Attack, but Important Challenges Remain, GAO-05-214 (Washington, DC: GAO, March 2005).
David A. Hennessy, Economic Aspects of Agricultural and Food Biosecurity in the United States (Ames,
Iowa: Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Iowa State University, March 2007).
David A. Hennessy, Biosecurity and Infectious Animal Disease (Ames, Iowa: Center for Agricultural and
Rural Development, Iowa State University, November 2005).
Martin Hugh-Jones, “Distinguishing natural and unnatural outbreaks of animal
Disease,” in M. Dando, G. Pearson, and K. Bohumir, eds. Scientific and Technical Means of Distinguishing between
Natural and Other Outbreaks of Disease (Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic, 1998).
Elaine Scallan, “Activities, Achievements, and Lessons Learned during the First 10 Years of the Foodborne
Diseases Active Surveillance Network: 1996–2005,” Clinical Infectious Disease, Vol. 44 (March 2007), pp. 718725.
Laura H. Kahn, “Confronting Zoonoses, Linking Human and Veterinary Medicine,” Emerging Infectious
Diseases, Vol. 12, No. 4 (April 2006), pp. 556-561.
Week 11: Case Study I: Foot and Mouth Disease
Blancou J. “History of control of foot and mouth disease,” Comp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis 2002;25(56):283-96.
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Source of the Outbreak: How the 2001 Outbreak of
Foot And Mouth Began (London, United Kingdom: 2001).
Roger Breeze, “Agroterrorism: Betting Far More than the Farm,” Biosecurity and Bioterrorism, Volume 2,
Number 4 (2004), pp. 251-264.
Paarlberg PL, Lee JG, Seitzinger AH. “Potential revenue impact of an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in
the United States,” J Am Vet Med Assoc 2002 Apr 1;220(7):988-92.
WEEK 12: Case Study II: Avian Influenza
Balicer RD, Reznikovich S, Berman E, et al., “Tackling a multifocal avian influenza (H5N1) outbreak,”
Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2007 Oct;13(10).
Capua I, Marangon S., “Control and prevention of avian influenza in an evolving scenario,” Vaccine 2007
Jul 26;25(30):5645-52.
Capua I, Marangon S., “Control of avian influenza in poultry,” Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2006 Sep
2006;12(9).
Garske T, Clarke P, Ghani AC., “The transmissibility of highly pathogenic avian influenza in commercial
poultry in industrialized countries,” PLoS One 2007 Apr;2(4).
Kaye D, Pringle CR., “Avian influenza viruses and their implication for human health,” Clinical Infectious
Diseases, 2005 Jan;40(1), pp. 108-12
FAO/OIE/WHO, A global strategy for the progressive control of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI),
November 2005.
World Health Organization, Avian Influenza: Assessing the Pandemic Potential (Geneva, Switzerland:
World Health Organization, 2005).
World Bank, Enhancing control of highly pathogenic avian influenza in developing countries through
compensation (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2006).
WEEK 13: International Perspectives on Agricultural Biosecurity
B. Vallat, J. Pinto & A. Schudel, “International organisations and their role in helping to protect the
worldwide community against natural and intentional biological disasters,” Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 2006, 25
(1), 163-172.
J. Lubroth, “International cooperation and preparedness in responding to accidental or deliberate biological
disasters: lessons and future directions,” Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 2006, 25 (1), 361-374.
A. Shimshony & P. Economides, “Disease prevention and preparedness for animal health emergencies in the
Middle East,” Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 2006, 25 (1), 253-269.
World Health Organization, Terrorist Threats to Food: Guidance for Establishing and Strengthening
Prevention and Response Systems (Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 2002).
WEEK 14: Future of Agroterrorism and Food Security
S.E. Heath, “Challenges and options for animal and public health services in the next two decades,” Rev. sci.
tech. Off. int. Epiz., 2006, 25 (1), 403-419.
Roger G. Breeze, “Technology, public policy and control of transboundary livestock diseases in our
lifetimes,” Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 2006, 25 (1), pp. 271-292.
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
COURSE CATALOG COPY FORM
For the revision of catalog copy for new or modified courses
A. Subject code number, course title, and credit hours.
Subject code and number: BIOD 726
Title: Agroterrorism and Food Security
Credit code: 3:3:0
B. Prerequisites needed prior to registration in the course or co-requisites:
Prerequisites:
BIOD 604 and BIOD 605; or permission of instructor
Co-requisites:
N/A
C. Description of the course as it will appear in the catalog
Analyzes the threat of agricultural terrorism, including assessments of the chemical and
biological agents used to disrupt agriculture and livestock and the national and global economic
and social impacts of these disruptions. Also examines strategies for enhancing the security of
the food production and supply systems.
Office of the Dean Use Only
Entered By:
Date: