Strengthen state and regional capacity and capability for preparedness and response in the areas of livestock decontamination, depopulation, and carcass disposal through an intensive 3-day training…

The $152,393 Cooperative Agreement awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care Federal Grant Program (CFDA 10.025) aims to strengthen state and regional capacity for preparedness and response to livestock disease outbreaks. The funding supports a 3-day training course for state animal agricultural responders from Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. The training will provide classroom and hands-on instruction in critical response areas such as biosecurity, decontamination procedures, depopulation methodologies, and disposal techniques. This effort will enable the participating states, as part of the Mid-Atlantic Emergency Response Consortium (MAERC), to form regional response teams that can provide trained personnel and equipment to assist neighboring states during a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), emerging, or foreign animal disease outbreak. The project aligns with APHIS's goal of developing an adequate number of highly trained core responders within this region.

Strengthen state and regional capacity and capability for preparedness and response in the areas of livestock decontamination, depopulation, and carcass disposal through an intensive 3-day training course for state animal agricultural responder's from maryland, delaware, virginia, west virginia, and pennsylvania. These responders will receive both classroom and hands-on instruction in the latest techniques taught by subject matter experts (SMES) in each respective area(S). This training will provide team members with the necessary skills, and field training in various disease response areas and capacities to include biosecurity best practices, C & D line set-up, premise, personnel, and vehicle decontamination procedures, preferred and permitted avma safe and humane depopulation methodologies, and various disposal techniques including burial, composting, grinding and incineration of livestock during an emerging or FAD response. This training will enable these states, as part of the mid-atlantic emergency response consortium (MAERC) to form regional response teams of state animal agricultural responders that when requested, can cross borders to assist neighboring states with trained teams of personnel and equipment during an hpai, emerging or foreign animal disease (FAD) outbreak. By creating teams of trained regional responders this will benefit these states by; increasing preparedness a ND the number of trained responders, providing an affected state with a quick influx of personnel and/or equipment when additional premises are infected, providing existing state responders with needed relief during an extended deployment, and lessening the reliance on USDA personnel who may be responding to events in many different states throughout the country. This project remains in alignment with USDA aphis's goal, objective 3: "ensure effective emergency preparedness and response" by "developing an adequate number of highly trained core responders" within this region.