Address gaps in surveillance and investigation activities for sars-COV-2 in animals, including farmed animals, captive wildlife, free-ranging wildlife, and companion animals

This work aims to enhance surveillance for sars-COV-2 in dogs to characterize these risk factors and understand potential implications of viral spread at human-DOG and DOG-animal interfaces. This project will also further investigate the impact of sars-COV-2 on the performance and scent detection capabilities of working dogs to inform veterinary and management practices that may be unique to this DOG population. In collaboration with veterinary partners, we will enroll seven unique populations of dogs in arizona: a) dogs living in traditional household settings, B) dogs cared for by individuals experiencing homelessness, C) farm/ranch dogs, D) therapy dogs, E) working dogs (e.g., police, search and rescue, detection), F) free-roaming dogs from tribal communities, and G) dogs living in shelter or rescue settings. The project will include the collection of nasal swabs and blood samples from dogs to test for the presence of the sars-COV-2 virus and for antibodies. OU tcomes from this project will be translated into targeted recommendations (e.g., surveillance, prevention, and management strategies of sars-COV-2 in dogs) for public health, veterinary professionals, and people interacting with dogs in various other settings. This work will further inform our understanding of how sars-COV-2 impacts different groups of dogs and the risks surrounding potential exposures. Additionally, we will engage tribal communities, animal shelter/rescue groups, and other underserved audiences in this a ND future collaborative multi-disciplinary one health studies. Results from this project will be valuable to several stakeholders, including public health officials, wildlife managers, and members of the public that will likely contact wild animals. The data the project generates will also be of value to scientific researchers in the fields of virology and veterinary medicine. The recipient must meet the objectives and deliverables stated in their work plan and must complete quarterly financial and performance reports and a final accomplishment report. Diverse audiences will benefit from this work. These include veterinarians and animal health professionals caring for domestic canine populations, public and tribal health entities, owners and handlers of therapy and ranch/farm dogs, agencies that employ working dogs, and animal shelter/rescue staff. Individuals owning, caring for, and interacting with dogs in various environments (e.g., households, duty, tribal and congregate and community settings) will also gain valuable insight from project outcomes. This project has subawards for texas a &M university (DR. Sarah hamer will serve as a CO-PI assisting with the execution of objective 1, 2, and 3 activities. DR. Hamer and her team will specifically assist with the enrollment of working dogs, as well as data collection, sample processing, and analysis of questionnaire data from this sub-population.); midwestern university college of veterinary medicine (DR. Rachael kriesler will serve as a CO-PI assisting with the execution of objective 1 and 2 activities. DR. Kriesler leads the operation of the mobile unit; her team will assist in the enrollment of and sample collection from several sub populations of dogs included in this study. ) and for a veterinary consultant (contract veterinarian to consult/assist with sample collections and data analysis (objectives 1-3); 150HRS @ $150/HR )