Initiative: WS human health/safety general the wadsworth center (WC) rabies laboratory will perform testing to support the USDA wildlife services (USDA-WS) oral rabies vaccination (ORV) campaign for…

This $222,508 Cooperative Agreement award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS), funded under the CFDA 10.028 Wildlife Services program, supports the Wadsworth Center (WC) Rabies Laboratory in performing testing and analysis to aid the USDA Wildlife Services' Oral Rabies Vaccination (ORV) campaign. The ORV program aims to control and surveil terrestrial rabies outbreaks in wildlife by distributing rabies vaccine baits in targeted regions. The Wadsworth Center, which is the division of the non-profit entity Health Research, Inc. based in New York, will provide critical laboratory services to support this federal initiative focused on preventing the spread of rabies in wildlife populations. The award has a performance period from January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025.

Initiative: WS human health/safety general the wadsworth center (WC) rabies laboratory will perform testing to support the USDA wildlife services (USDA-WS) oral rabies vaccination (ORV) campaign for the control and surveillance of terrestrial rabies. Efforts to eliminate the spread of rabies outbreaks in wildlife are initiated and managed by staff from the USDA wildlife services. USDA-WS distributes baits containing a rabies vaccine in areas throughout the US predetermined by evaluating ecological and epidemiological factors of wildlife rabies. ORV baits are designed to elicit an immune response against rabies in animals that consume the baits. When these animals are exposed to rabies, the expectation is that the immune response will decrease the risk of infection, thereby preventing the spread of the disease.