Building Partnerships for Agriculture's Future

For immediate release on Tuesday, May 22, 2001
Contact: Doug Thomas (502) 564-4696

AG MEETING TARGETS EMERGENCY ISSUES

Frankfort, KY-State and federal officials met Tuesday, May 22, in
Elizabethtown to unveil a new, comprehensive plan to address agricultural
emergencies ranging from a possible outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)
to natural disasters such as floods or tornadoes.

"This is the first comprehensive plan in Kentucky to address the possibility
of an agricultural disaster," said Kentucky's Commissioner of Agriculture,
Billy Ray Smith. "This statewide meeting is the first of many efforts to
educate farmers, state and local officials, and others about how a potential
disaster is to be handled and which organizations have authority in an
emergency situation."

Three officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture - Dr. Roger
Odenweller, Dr. Mike Pavlick, and Dr. Barry Meade - gave presentations on
foot-and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or mad cow
disease), and West Nile virus and USDA's Regional Emergency Animal Disease
Eradication Organization. Dr. Don Applegate, a professor at Morehead State
University, discussed his first-hand experience in working on the FMD
outbreak in the United Kingdom.

Speakers for the afternoon session included: Guy Delius, Food Safety
Manager, Kentucky Department for Public Health; Dr. Mike Auslander, DVM,
Kentucky Department for Public Health; W.R. Padgett, Director of the
Kentucky Division of Emergency Management; and Deder Lane of the Federal
Emergency Management Agency. The state Agriculture Department and the
Kentucky Division of Emergency Management led the way in developing the
agricultural emergency plan.

"We believe this plan will enable us to react to a crisis situation quickly
and in an organized manner," Commissioner Smith said.

For more information on animal health issues, contact the Kentucky
Department of Agriculture, Office of the State Veterinarian, at (502)
564-3956, or consult the Division of Animal Health Web site at
www.kyagr.com.

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