This is an article by Joshua Dise, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, March 5, 2025.
Hazards and risks associated with state and local fairs mirror those of other high-attendance events—medical emergencies, mass casualty incidents, and other public safety risks. However, within the food and agriculture sector lies an additional risk: the spread of animal diseases, which can have catastrophic consequences.
Learn about the ever-present risk and threat of animal disease transmission.
Listen on
Joshua Dise
Joshua Dise is an interdisciplinary national security and emergency management professional with experience in both operational and analytical roles. His work addresses complex and interconnected risks, including industrial hazards, transboundary diseases, cybersecurity, and systemic threats to critical infrastructure. He currently serves as a systems analyst at Sandia National Laboratories, where he provides decision support on ill-defined, multi-domain national security challenges using a broad range of technical skills and expertise. Prior to this, he served as a lead technical analyst and emergency planner at Sandia, where he was responsible for delivering a variety of hazard analyses and consequence assessment products. His research interests include environmental hazard response, biosecurity, agricultural and public health preparedness, natural resource management and security, and the convergence of digital and physical infrastructure risks. Joshua holds advanced degrees in emergency management and natural resources and is currently a Ph.D. student at Oklahoma State University, studying fire and emergency management administration. He is also an alumnus of the National Preparedness and Leadership Initiative at Harvard University.
