The intentional contamination of animal feed to reduce the availability
of animal-derived human food or to infect human populations
is seldom mentioned, but animal feed could be an easy target
for bioterrorists. The period of delay between the contamination
of the animal feed and adulteration of the human food product
provides an additional degree of uncertainty about the source
of the contamination and minimizes the possibility of apprehending
the terrorist. The less obvious and more natural the source
of biological contamination, the greater the likelihood that
the animal feed contamination will be mistaken as a natural
phenomenon. However, the problems related to managing natural
food contamination and intentional food contamination remain
the same. Rapid testing and separation of contaminated feed
are important steps, followed by the more specific identification
of the contaminant to determine the source of adulteration and/or
the possibility of decontamination. At this time identification
of the bioagents is dependent on the availability of antibody-specific
test systems. The rapid development of specific antibodies for
the development of sensitive and specific test kits is the key
to identifying contamination and dealing effectively with the
disposal or decontamination of the animal feed and, ultimately,
preventing the contamination of animal-derived human food products.
