Conduct animal health national surveillance and response activities that will provide specific i nformation to the recipient, aphis, and other interested parties for foreign animal disease in poultry,…

The Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service awarded a cooperative agreement totaling $234,158 to Texas Poultry Improvement Association on April 1, 2026, under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care program (CFDA 10.025).

The recipient conducts animal health national surveillance and response activities for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and virulent Newcastle disease (VND) across Texas poultry populations. Deliverables include conducting more than 94,000 serology tests and more than 8,900 PCR tests to prevent, detect, and control disease outbreaks; providing animal health staff support and specialized training; and hosting industry outreach at seven meetings across Texas reaching over 12,500 farmers. The testing covers broiler breeders, broilers, egg layer breeders, egg layers, gamebirds, and backyard poultry, encompassing approximately 727 million broilers and 24 million egg-laying hens statewide. The work protects five broiler integrators operating fifteen processing facilities that process over 727 million broiler chickens annually, and nineteen egg-processing facilities that produce 507 million dozen eggs per year.

Performance period runs from April 1, 2026 through March 31, 2027, with all work performed in Texas. The agreement carries no subrecipients.

Conduct animal health national surveillance and response activities that will provide specific i nformation to the recipient, aphis, and other interested parties for foreign animal disease in poultry, specifically highly pathogenic avian influenza (hpai) and virulent newcastle (VND). Support animal health STA , provide training, obtain training, and carry out disease surveillance to prevent, detect, and control hpai & VND outbreaks. Under this cooperation agreement, participants will ensure that poultry flocks in texas are free of disease by conducting more than 94,000 serology tests and more than 8,900 PCR tests. With outreach at 7 meetings across texas, all poultry groups will be covered and educated. Under this cooperative agreement, the deliverable is education for the industry that can reach over 12,500 farmers in the state and protection from avian influenza by conducting more than 94,000 serology tests and more than 8,900 PCR tests. This testing covers broiler breeders, broilers, EGG layer breeders, EGG layers, gamebirds, and backyard poultry, and will include over 727 million broilers and 24 million EGG layers in the state per year. The benefit will be to the industry, public and aphis by protecting 5 broiler integrators with 15 processing facilities in the state. These facilities process over 727 million broiler chickens in texas each year, producing 4.9 billion pounds of chicken meat for consumers. IT also protects the 24 million EGG-laying hens in texas, whose eggs are processed at 19 facilities across the state. These operations produce 507 million dozen eggs, or 6.08 billion eggs in total, for consumers. There are no subrecipient(s) for this agreement.