Provide comprehensive yet accessible foundational knowledge in support of small ruminant herd health, disease management, and prevention and recognition of reportable emerging and foreign animal…

This cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will provide $235,488 to Washington State University from September 1, 2023 through August 31, 2025. Under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care federal grant program, WSU will compile diagnostic outcomes from the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory's small ruminant cases over the past 10 years. WSU will then develop interactive webinars, conference presentations, exercises, and wet labs on foundational small ruminant herd health, disease management, and foreign animal disease identification. Online video content and guidance documents will be created to disseminate diagnostic protocols and submission guidance. Pre- and post-activity surveys will assess knowledge gains and needs. Functional exercises and wet labs at conferences will evaluate commitments to applying new information in clinical assessments, diagnostic oversight, and therapeutic practices. The primary beneficiaries are veterinarians and producers to establish routine health understanding and highlight foreign and emerging disease necessities.

Provide comprehensive yet accessible foundational knowledge in support of small ruminant herd health, disease management, and prevention and recognition of reportable emerging and foreign animal diseases (FAD). Activities will include compiling and summarizing washington animal disease diagnostic laboratory (WADDL) small ruminant accessions and diagnostic outcomes over the past 10 years, helping to provide focus areas for the development of interactive live webinars, conference presentations, functional exercises, and postmortem-based wet labs. The project will deliver webinar-derived online video content in support of routine, emerging and FAD pathogen and diseasespecific diagnostic protocols and laboratory submission guidance, FAQ sheets and diagnostic protocols for web-based and in-person continuing education related to small ruminant herd health oversight and disease surveillance, and content for WSU college of veterinary medicine curricula andveterinary medicine extension activities related to small ruminant management and disease mitigation strategies. These deliverables will serve to disseminate information to small ruminant practitioners and producers aimed at establishing a baseline understanding of routine health issues while highlighting the necessity for clinical and diagnostic insight into foreign and emerging animal diseases. Pre- and post-webinar surveys will document knowledge acquisition and highlight areas in need of ongoing education. Functional exercises and wet labs delivered at WSU and washington state veterinary medical association veterinary conferences will include commitment to change (CTC) evaluations focused on the application of new knowledge to practice commitments particularly with respect to clinical assessments (e.g., herd health programs), diagnostic oversight (e.g., postmortem analysis, FAD and emerging disease identification), and therapeutic practices (e.g., parasite control, antibiotic use). Primary beneficiaries of this project will include rural, peri-urban, and urban veterinary practitioners servicing backyard and commercial herds/flocks, backyard and commercial small ruminant owners/producers with limited access to local veterinarians but relationships with WADDL through diagnostic submissions, and pre-clinical and clinical veterinary students within the WSU CVM.