To provide surveillance, inspections, diagnostics, education and outreach to prevent foreign animal diseases and zoonotic diseases that threaten US agriculture and human health

This federal Cooperative Agreement award, provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care Federal Grant Program (CFDA 10.025), supports a range of surveillance, inspection, diagnostic, education, and outreach activities to prevent foreign animal diseases and zoonotic diseases that threaten U.S. agriculture and public health. The $1,197,033 award to the California Department of Food & Agriculture will fund efforts such as active and passive avian disease surveillance, biosecurity audits, laboratory diagnostics, and preparedness and response planning, particularly for highly pathogenic avian influenza. The award will also support cattle disease monitoring for brucellosis and tuberculosis, as well as "One Health" collaboration with state wildlife and public health partners. The project period runs from April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026.

Activities to be performed - avian: (a) active surveillance - national poultry improvement program, retail markets and small processors, live bird marketing system, auctions, feed stores, small sales, backyard flock quality assurance program; (b) passive surveillance - sick bird calls, self-submission, avian foreign animal disease investigations; (c) inspections/audits - biosecurity compliance audit program /bifa audits, live bird marketing "down day, live bird marketing records, live bird marketing system producers, california EQQ quality assurance program, national poultry improvement program subpart e, national poultry improvement program hatcheries, feedstore, non- national poultry improvement program indemnity, fairs; (d) laboratory diagnostics; (e) education and outreach - live bird marketing meetings, game fowl health assurance program, feed store, pet stores, auctions, swap meets, biosecurity and disease prevention webpage and material; (f) data entry and recordkeeping; (g) travel and training - united states animal health association, american association of avian pathologists, live bird marketing records working group, foreign animal disease diagnostic training; and (h) preparedness and response - initial state response and containment plans development and exercises. Continue to train and build standing blended incident management team for response. PA rticularly high path avian influenza response. Cattle: (a) brucellosis surveillance and prevention; (b) tuberculosis surveillance and prevention; and (c) general preparedness and response. One health: (a) maintain communication and information sharing protocols with state diagnostic lab, state-level wildlife and public health partners on zoonotic, emerging, or wildlife disease detection that could impact human or livestock animal health; (b) develop training and exercises for responders on the california blended incident management team, incident management team (one health), emergency preparedness and california animal emergency response system(cares) ‐ animal care and sheltering during natural and human‐caused by one-health events; (c) california list of reportable conditions for animals and animal products updated annually; (d) monitor tuberculosis and brucellosis testing of raw milk dairies and work with california department of public health; and (e) monitor health staff during potential zoonotic disease outbreaks. Sheep, goat, cervid and equine health: (a) scrapie surveillance; (b) annual scrapie regulatory scrapie slaughter surveillance and non-regulatory scrapie slaughter surveillance reports; (c) monthly identification compliance report; (d) outreach - encourage reporting of scrapie suspec TS; (e) outreach - increase number of flocks in scrapie database and use of official identification; (f) education - ensure state designated scrapie epidemiologist maintains proficiency; (g) preparedness and response - identification compliance, scrapie response and tracing; and (h) equine - investigation foreign animal disease and high impact equine disease, increases awareness of equine foreign animal disease. Swine: (a) surveillance - african swine fever/classical swine fever, swine brucellosis, pseudorabies, and influenza a. Follow up tracing and testing of detections; (b) surveillance - search and investigate unlicensed garbage feeders; (c) education and outreach to producer groups, future farmers of america, 4-h, fairs, farm bureaus, or other local functions where swine producers may be found; and (d) slaughter surveillance in high incidence plants - seneca virus a, foot and mouth disease. Deliverables and expected outcomes - meet the needs for surveillance, preparedness, response, and outreach necessary to protect american agriculture and accomplish veterinary services mission goals. Intended beneficiaries - california and united states' agriculture producers and consumers. Subrecipient activities - not applicable