The purpose of this cooperative agreement is directed toward accomplishing the following objectives addressed below: a cooperative r elationship between the mississippi board of animal health, (the…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) awarded the Mississippi Board of Animal Health a $481,063 cooperative agreement on April 1, 2026, under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care program (CFDA 10.025).

The agreement funds surveillance, preparedness, response, and outreach activities to protect Mississippi's livestock and poultry populations from emerging, re-emerging, endemic, zoonotic, and foreign animal diseases. The Mississippi Board of Animal Health will investigate, control, and eliminate diseases as appropriate across approximately 810,000 cattle, 85,000 breeding swine, 5.9 million layers, and 670 million broilers annually. Deliverables include conducting epidemiologic investigations in accordance with animal health program regulations; disease response activities such as cleanup, trace-back investigations, post-exposure monitoring, testing, and disposal of high-risk animals and herds; and education and outreach to state, tribal, and federal veterinary medical officers, animal health technicians, and animal identification coordinators on animal disease surveillance plans and program activities. The recipient will also conduct outreach to accredited veterinarians and producers to encourage sample submissions supporting national surveillance goals and sample collection targets.

Performance occurs in Mississippi. The period of performance runs from April 1, 2026, through March 31, 2027. The funding obligated is $481,063.

The purpose of this cooperative agreement is directed toward accomplishing the following objectives addressed below: a cooperative r elationship between the mississippi board of animal health, (the recipient) and the united states department of agriculture (USDA), animal and plant health inspection service (aphis), veterinary services (VS); mission-related goals, objectives, and anticipated objectives as well as the approach for conducting national surveillance and response for animal health activities and the related roles and responsibilities of the parties (e.g. mutual roles, VS role(s), and recipient role) as negotiated; meet the needs for surveillance, preparedness, response, and outreach necessary to protect american agriculture and accomplish VS mission goals; provide education to state, tribal, and federal veterinary medical officers (vmos), animal health technicians (ahts), animal identification coordinators (aics), and other appropriate animal health officials to assure full understanding of all animal disease surveillance plans and associated program activities, including conducting quality epidemiologic investigations; conduct outreach and education with accredited veterinarians and producers to encourage sample submissions in support of national surveillance goals and sample collection targets; conduct epidemiologic investigations in accordance with animal health program regulations and program standards including disease response activities such as cleanup, trace back investigations, post exposure monitoring, testing, and disposal of high risk animals/herds, as appropriate. This cooperative agreement will perform the following activities addressed below: investigate, control and eliminate (when appropriate) emerging, RE-emerging, endemic, zoonotic and foreign diseases that impact animal agriculture. Mississippi approximately 810,000 cattle, 85,000 breeding swine, 5.9 million layers and 670 million broilers yearly. This cooperative agreement will allow the continuation of surveillance and response activities to ensure animal agriculture is protected; for cattle, achieve state-level goals defined in the BSE national sampling plan. Collections should represent the three major OIE BSE surveillance streams: clinical suspects (cattle over 12 months of age), emergency slaughter (non-ambulatory over 30 months), and fallen stock (dead over 30 months). Ensure TB surveillance continues at an appropriate rate reaching approximately 400 tests yearly and documenting those results; for poultry, approximately 72,780 tests and 28 necropsies for avian influenza will be conducted in commercial FL ocks, backyard flocks, and from flocks attending fairs and shows; conduct surveillance to meet or exceed the state-of-origin based scrapie surveillance annual sampling minimums of 41 sheep and 54 goats, and assist other states in meeting theirs. Including: 1) conduct scrapie surveillance in sheep and goats from higher risk and underrepresented flocks or populations, and higher risk animals such as mature on-farm dead; 2) collect all targeted animals at the 2 regulatory scrapie slaughter surveillance (rsss) sites; and 3) maintain current and add new rsss collection sites; perform and report upon baseline swine surveillance activities as enumerated in the baseline cooperative guidance document - ASF and CSF, PRV-SB, and shpa, reporting data in appropriate VS-assigned databases and/or forms as specified. The goal is to collect 200 PRV-SB samples; develop OH partnerships within the state using methods to promote additional communication and collaboration. The deliverables and expected outcomes of this cooperative agreement are listed below: complete data entry (EMRS2, surveillance collaboration services (SCS coreone), nvsl lims, vsls, nahrs/nlrad); develop and maintain cross-sector communication protocols between one health partners (human, animal, wildlife, and environmental health and other state and local agencies as appropriate) regarding human cases of zoonotic disease and confirmed or suspected cases of zoonotic disease in animals, including livestock and wildlife; prepare, maintain, and exercise state-level plans, standard operating procedures, response templates, and guidance documents for responding to endemic, foreign, zoonotic, and emerging disease or RE-emerging disease events impacting animal agriculture; perform 72,780 tests and 28 necropsies for avian influenza; meet scrapie surveillance annual sampling minimums of 41 sheep and 54 goats; collect 200 PRV-SB samples; ensure accredited veterinarians are completing TB surveillance of 400 tests per year; attend all local, state, regional and national meetings to discuss safeguarding animal health with stakeholders; inspect all livestock markets quarterly and ensure animals are identified correctly; educate stakeholders on foreign animal disease (FAD) clinical signs and encourage prompt reporting of sick cattle, swine, poultry and other livestock animals to officials for investigation. The intended beneficiaries for this cooperative agreement are the following: MS board of animal health (mbah); mississippi livestock producers including 13 ,600 cattle herds, the producers of over 85,000 breeding swine on 36 sites; livestock markets; general public- consuming healthy and affordable protein. No subrecipient activities.