Practical Tools for Plant and Food Biosecurity: Results from a European Network of Excellence (Plant Pathology in the 21st Century Book 8)

This book is based on EU-funded project PLANTFOODSEC, covering intentional and unintentional threats to plant biosecurity and to food safety areas. Biosecurity is a strategic and integrated approach for analysing and managing relevant risks to human, animal and plant life and health, and associated risks to the environment. Interest in biosecurity has risen considerably over the last decade in parallel with the increasing trade in food and plant and animal products; higher levels of international travel; new outbreaks of transboundary diseases. Although most diseases outbreaks have natural causes or are the result of inadvertent introductions of pathogens through human activities, the risk of a deliberate introduction of a high consequence plant pathogen cannot be excluded. Vigilance is required to identify, prevent and manage new and emerging issues that could impact on production capacity, plant biosecurity or food safety and food chain resilience. Front Matter....Pages i-x Considering Vulnerabilities, Threats and Gaps in Plant and Food Biosecurity....Pages 1-30 Characterization of the Threat Resulting from Plant Pathogen Use as Anti-crop Bioweapons: An EU Perspective on Agroterrorism....Pages 31-60 Vulnerabilities, Threats and Gaps in Food Biosecurity....Pages 61-75 Recent Outbreaks of Human Pathogens on Plants (HPOPs) on Fresh Produce – Lessons Learned from the Practice....Pages 77-96 A Risk Management Framework for Plant Biosecurity....Pages 97-119 Integrating Crop Bioterrorism Hazards into Pest Risk Assessment Tools....Pages 121-142 Detection of Mycotoxins in Food: Applications of Rapid and Reliable Tools in a Biosecurity Context....Pages 143-162 Containment of Mycotoxins in the Food Chain by Using Decontamination and Detoxification Techniques....Pages 163-177 Decision Tool for Assessing the Likelihood of an Intentional Foodborne Illness Outbreak....Pages 179-207 Diagnostic Tools for Plant Biosecurity....Pages 209-226 The European Union Plant Diagnostic Information System (EUPDIS): A Platform for Collaborative Diagnostics and a Tool for Early Detection of Plant Pathogens....Pages 227-241 Containment and Eradication of Invasive Pathogens....Pages 243-256 Applications and Assessment of Microbial Forensics in a Field Outbreak of Salmon Blotch of Onion in Israel....Pages 257-287 The Fragmentation of Plant and Food Biosecurity Research Networks: A Scientometric Analysis....Pages 289-308 Developing an International Communications Network: The PlantFoodSec Model....Pages 309-325 Training and Knowledge Transfer to Support Strong, Comprehensive National and International Plant Biosecurity Preparedness....Pages 327-347 Making the Most of International Opportunities and Experiences for Researchers’ Training Within a Large, Multinational EU Project: The Students’ Perspective....Pages 349-361 The Need for International Perspectives to Solve Global Biosecurity Challenges....Pages 363-384 This volume is part of a series of volumes on Plant Pathology in the twenty-first Century and it stems from Plant and Food Biosecurity (PLANTFOODSEC), a Network of Excellence funded under the European 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development focusing on biological threats having the capacity to affect and damage agriculture, infect plants and ultimately affect food and feed at any stage in the supply chain. Biosecurity is a strategic and integrated approach for analysing and managing relevant risks to human, animal and plant life and health, and associated risks to the environment. Although most plant disease and food safety outbreaks have natural causes or are the result of inadvertent introductions of pathogens through human activities, the risk of a deliberate introduction of a high consequence plant pathogen or human pathogen on plant cannot be excluded. The considerable amount of research on plant biosecurity and food safety promoted by the European Union ĺl which has also involved non-EU countries such as the United States, Israel and Turkey ĺl has made possible the development of a comprehensive set of tools covering the entire risk management cycle ĺl from prevention to preparedness, detection, response and recovery - which are presented in this book. In particular the different chapters cover the identification and regulatory analysis of biosecurity challenges; pest risk assessment; experimental and modelling approaches; decision tools and microbial forensics; diagnostics and detection tools. Moreover training, dissemination and networking subjects are also covered. This book is aimed at researchers, graduates and policy makers in the field of Plant Health, Food Safety and Food Security