Biodefense: “Too great a thing to leave undone”

By R. Gary Raham

In this country many of us tend to take the safety of our food supplies for granted. Scientists, policymakers, and other community leaders will be coming together Tuesday, November 5 at 9:30 a.m. at the C Wayne McIlraith Translational Medicine Institute in Fort Collins to discuss reasons why we shouldn’t. The event is called “Too great a thing to leave undone: defense of agriculture.” Panel discussions continue throughout the day until 3:15 p.m.

https://source.colostate.edu/csu-to-host-bipartisan-commission-on-biodefense-nov-5/

The event is free and open to the public, but advance registration by October 29 is required. (https://biodefensecommission.org/events/too-great-a-thing-to-leave-undone-defense-of-agriculture/)

Six land-grant universities including Colorado State University, University of California, Davis, Texas A & M, Kansas State, Iowa State, and University of Nebraska, Lincoln/University of Nebraska Medical Center, joined together to form CERES, the Coalition for Epi Response, Engagement, and Science consortium. The event at Colorado State falls under their mission statement to “protect and defend our agricultural industry against global health threats, and to provide innovation for food security now and into the future.”

Alan Rudolph, vice president for research at Colorado State University, said “We aim to advance our ongoing efforts in preparedness that focuses on research in surveillance and diagnosis for disease, vaccine and therapeutics treatments development and remediation to enable return to normal operations after outbreaks such as the current global crisis experienced with Africa Swine fever.”

The event will also be webcast. Registration for the webcast is encouraged.