A former chief weapons inspector for the United Nations spoke about the global importance of veterinary medicine during an annual lecture Wednesday.

David Franz, a former chief weapons inspector on three U.N. inspection missions, said he originally aspired to be a small animal veterinarian. On Wednesday, Franz told about 200 College of Veterinary Medicine students and faculty about the role the veterinarian plays in responding to threats of bioterrorism.

The annual lecture, dedicated to the memory of Frank Ramsey, former head of the Department of Veterinary Pathology, is intended to focus on the global impacts of veterinary medicine. Franz said he hoped the lecture would help students realize opportunities available to them.

“A lot of us are really interested in the role we can play as vets,” said Belinda Comito, freshman in veterinary medicine. She said it was powerful to hear about veterinarians involved so closely both with the creation of bioterrorism agents and with the defense against them.

“The potential for harm in agricultural terrorism is enormous,” Franz said. Because of ripple effects on the economy and food availability, he said everyone should be aware of the possibility. The growing concentration of livestock only increases the risk.

“One case [of foot-and-mouth disease] in western Nebraska, and we’re off the world market,” he said.

Franz said threats of bioterrorism should be taken seriously. Biological warfare requires mass production of viruses, but in terrorism, only small amounts are needed.

Franz also stressed the importance in understanding the difference between chemical and biological warfare.

If a chemical agent was sitting at the front of the classroom “we’d all have to leave the room in a very orderly fashion … or we’d start to die,” Franz said, making the point very clearly. However, if a biological agent, such as anthrax, was sitting in the same place “as long as there are no lawyers, we could keep having the lecture.”

That is true because biological agents have to be breathable particles and the particles themselves are dependent on the environment. That difference, he said, makes chemical terrorism a matter for Hazmat workers, while bioterrorism is a public health concern.

Franz said because many of the facilities used to produce biological agents are also used to create vaccines, intent is the biggest concern. He said Iraq has the ability to produce the quantity of agents needed for bioterrorism, but doesn’t think inspectors will come away with a smoking gun.

“Iraqis are great people, they just have a bad leader right now,” Franz said. “I would be surprised if we found biological weapons.”