[AIB Technology Update] Software Systems for Food Safety and Defense

The events of Sept. 11 stunned and shocked our nation and led to the realization that many vital infrastructures are at risk to those who want to cause fear, psychological trauma, loss of life and/or economic disruption. One critical infrastructure vulnerable to an intentional attack is our nation’s food supply. Food production, processing and distribution are complex, highly fragmented and provide numerous opportunities for intentional contamination. The introduction of potentially lethal biological or chemical agents into the food supply by terrorists or disgruntled employees would result in rapid and widespread distribution of contaminated products that could be consumed by thousands of individuals prior to any indication that a major outbreak was in progress.

BTSafety LLC was established after 9/11 to develop  software systems that simulate the consequences of intentional introductions of bioterrorism agents into the food supply, and that help local, state and federal government agencies, first responders and food companies respond appropriately and effectively when a contamination event is confirmed. There are currently two software systems under development and scheduled for beta testing.

Consequence Management System. BTSafety’s Consequence Management System (CMS) is a “user friendly” software system that simulates the time-dependent movement of selected food products that may have become contaminated with bioterrorism agents from the farm through retail and foodservice outlets to consumers. Following consumption, the model illustrates the rate at which agent-specific symptoms occur, the likelihood and timing of medical care, and the timing of public health response to the incident. The CMS is designed to quantify the consequences of foodborne events (including the timing and extent of morbidity and/or mortality) and the estimated cost of the event to individual consumers, the food industry, the U.S. economy and the public health system using several different metrics (e.g., QALYs, dollars, etc.). The system also evaluates the impact of various interventions (e.g., public announcements, recalls) on the evolution and consequences of events. 

Several pre-built illustrative scenarios of foods and agents have been incorporated into the CMS. These allow users to do “what-if” scenario planning by varying numerous parameters including volume of contaminated product, point of contamination, extent of contamination, distribution channel, seasonality (if appropriate) and public health response times to assess the impact of these parameters on event consequences. Detailed scenario descriptions and reference materials incorporated into the CMS provide background information on the affected food product category, agent characteristics, sourcing and distribution channels, consumption patterns by demographic subpopulations, risk communication recommendations, and assumptions and data sources used to create the scenarios. A data entry system allows users to easily add information into all CMS databases which facilitates the creation of customized scenarios unique to different end users, and a statistics subsystem allows users to select, parameterize and view various statistical distributions that represent the evolution of each phase of the model. The CMS can be used in advance of an event to assist in training exercises, risk and vulnerability assessments, resource allocation and policy setting. During an actual event, the CMS helps predict how the event will evolve, the magnitude of the event and where resources are needed to react to the event.

Although originally designed for food bioterrorism events, the CMS also can be used to model the consequences of unintentional foodborne illness outbreaks such as the recent E. coli 0157:H7 contamination of spinach which resulted in 199 illnesses in 26 states, 102 hospitalizations, 31 cases of a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and three deaths. Conventional foodborne illness outbreaks account for more than 96 percent of all outbreaks.

Initial development and costs associated with patenting the CMS were funded by the principals of BTSafety. Continued development of the CMS is being funded through a contract with FDA, a grant from the Department of Homeland Security’s National Center for Food Protection and Defense at the University of Minnesota, and the Department of Homeland Security’s National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center through a subcontract with Battelle, Inc. USDA and CDC have contributed expert-generated information, historical outbreak data and provided internal specialists who have contributed to the development of many elements of the system. 

The first release of the CMS is anticipated in June 2007. Customers include federal agencies (e.g., FDA, DHS, USDA, CDC); state departments of agriculture; state, county and local public health departments; the first responder community including the National Guard; and importantly, publicly traded and private companies involved in growing, processing, transporting and marketing of food. 

Consequence Management and Response System. BTSafety’s Containment and Remediation System or CMRS is a PC-based software system designed to assist government agencies, state and local emergency response agencies, first responders and the affected industries respond appropriately and effectively when a food contamination event is confirmed and disposal, containment, remediation and business recovery actions must be initiated. Effective management of these processes is critical for minimizing the consequences of a deliberate attack on the food system. This project focuses on the development of computer software modules designed with two key components: the first is a management tool for planning, managing, and tracking containment and remediation activities (which may include disposal of contaminated products, decontamination of all sites along the food chain potentially exposed to the contaminated products, certification of readiness to resume business after decontamination and appropriate public communication); the second component is an extensive database of best practices dealing with disposal, containment and remediation strategies and activities. The CMRS provides the software tools to enable an agency or official to select strategies that apply to each contaminated location and then to track the progress of subsequent activities.

BTSafety collaborated with Ecolab, the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Minnesota to populate the CMRS with expert-generated remediation protocols. The CMRS contains pre-built templates for typical farm-to-fork facilities that users might encounter to facilitate creation of outbreak scenarios. Alternatively, users can download digital photos of specific locations that need to be remediated. A data entry system allows easy customization by users. Having these protocols and scenarios in advance of an event will help manage the chaos expected in an intentional event.

The CMRS currently is being transitioned to a browser-based system with an optional connection to the Internet, providing an interface that enables users to easily create and maintain graphical plans of incidents locally, and then, if desired, to receive and/or transmit the parts of the plan that are to be shared over the Internet with others within their organization or between organizations. In addition, a number of new features are being added: 1.) region-specific response plans; 2.) region-specific key contacts to involve in incident investigations; 3.) recommendations and protocols for the disposal of contaminated food; 4.) contact information for region-specific disposal sites that would accept food contaminated with bioterrorism or conventional agents; 5.) federal government recommendations such as the recently published guidelines on how to manage radiologic agents; and, 6.) recommendations and protocols that businesses will use to demonstrate their facilities have been adequately cleaned and sanitized so business can be resumed.

The CMRS also was conceived as a tool to assist in the response to bioterrorism events. However, following discussions with potential users at state agencies involved in food, agriculture and public health and the first responder community, it has become clear the CMRS could have applications beyond intentional contamination of the food supply for any food-related or environmental crisis. Therefore, the scope is being expanded to include a broad range of potential crises. The development of the CMRS is being funded, in part, by the Department of Homeland Security’s National Center for Food Protection and Defense at the University of Minnesota. The first release of the CMRS is anticipated in October. 

It will never be possible to prevent an intentional attack on the food supply. Our best defense will be to respond quickly and effectively to minimize the public health consequences and economic disruption, and restore public confidence in the food supply.

The authors are with BTSafety LLC, Eden Prairie, Minn.