The World Health Organization has warned food supplies are potential targets of terrorist attacks. While the United Sates has legislation aimed at safeguarding its food supply, Canada has yet to come up with a plan.

Terrorism experts say livestock is the weakest link in Canada's food chain. Jonathan Ban of the Chemical and Biological Arms Institute in Washington, D.C. says counter-terrorism efforts have focused on the human population.

At the cattle auction in Olds, Alberta, cattle are shipped all over the continent.

Cattle auction

"Cattle travel from here to Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado," says Danny Rosehill, owner of the Olds Auction Mart. "We ship them into Ontario and Quebec, so really, miles mean nothing now."

Foot and mouth is at the top of every rancher's worry list. An outbreak hit Britain two years ago. Thousands of cattle, sheep and pigs had to be destroyed.

Little has been done in Canada to counter the possibility of deliberate contamination.

Ban says foot and mouth disease is an attractive weapon because it's highly infectious and samples are easy to obtain.

"Hogs are very good biological amplifiers of the virus," agrees Gerald Ollis, chief veterinarian for Alberta. "They can put out plumes of the virus that can travel 10, 15 miles downwind. Cattle are very susceptible to the plume because they can take it in through inhalation."

Matt Taylor of the Canadian Animal Health coalition says an outbreak in this country would cost more than $10 billion and at least 10 million animals would have to be destroyed.

"In every major outbreak, the industry has been downsized and never gotten back to where it was before," says Taylor.

Taylor says Canada's industry would be devastated because it relies so much on exports of beef and pork.

The U.S. is spending millions preparing a response to a foot and mouth epidemic. Taylor says Canada needs to follow suit.