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Oklahoma, Kansas to conduct bi-state stop animal movement exerciseOklahoma Oklahoma and Kansas officials are conducting the nation's first emergency response exercise to test interstate coordination and the logistics of implementing a stop livestock movement order when one is issued by state animal health officials. The real-time exercise will take place Oct. 22 in the Oklahoma and Kansas state capitals and on the Oklahoma-Kansas border. The scenario is based on simulated outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the eastern United States. "Oklahoma, like many states, has conducted exercises to test its plans to respond to a highly contagious foreign animal disease within its borders, but this exercise provides the new perspective of coordinating our activities with a neighboring state to stop animal movement across a shared border," said Terry Peach, Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture. "We have been planning our response to possible disease outbreaks for years and this exercise will be a good test for us." Animal health, agriculture, law enforcement, transportation and emergency management officials from both states will participate in the exercise by working as players, evaluators and actors. The exercise will be played out as realistically as possible, in real time, and it will involve both states emergency operations centers, key decision makers and local officials. Traffic will be screened at two border locations; one three miles north of Turpin on Highway 83 and the other at the intersection of Highways 160 and 183 near Sitka, Kan. In the exercise, the disease Oklahoma and Kansas officials are trying to prevent from affecting animals in their states is foot-and-mouth disease, a highly contagious disease of cattle, sheep, swine, goats, deer and other cloven-hooved animals that causes blisters on the mouth, teats and soft tissue of the feet. Infected animals have difficulty eating and walking. While it is painful for infected animals, it does not pose a significant threat to human health. The exercise, titled SAMS-KO, or Stop Animal Movement Statewide KS-OK, is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Oklahoma and Kansas are members of the Multi-State Partnership for Security in Agriculture, a consortium of 13 states that work together to protect the food and agriculture sector by sharing information and building interstate response capabilities. The partnership contracted with SES, inc. of Merriam, Kansas, to design and conduct the exercise to test the plans and coordination needed to successfully stop and screen livestock and livestock-related traffic involved in interstate commerce. Foot-and-mouth disease was last identified in the United States in 1929. It is a primary concern for animal health officials because it could have potentially devastating economic consequences due to disrupted trade and lost investor confidence. Advertisement
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