Conduct surveillance, enhance preparedness, and improve response to program diseases and foreign animal diseases in cattle, sheep, goats, cervidae, poultry, and swine

The Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service awarded a $369,010 Cooperative Agreement to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship on April 1, 2026, under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care program (CFDA 10.025) to conduct surveillance, enhance preparedness, and improve response to program diseases and foreign animal diseases in cattle, sheep, goats, cervidae, poultry, and swine in Iowa through March 31, 2027.

IDALS will conduct poultry surveillance at county and state fairs for avian influenza using PCR testing of approximately 152 pooled samples through Iowa State University Diagnostic Laboratory, with quarterly reporting to USDA. IDALS operates a sick bird line averaging 35 calls per year to support early detection of avian influenza, with call data reported quarterly to USDA. The recipient will encourage the ISU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory to consider brucellosis as a differential diagnosis for cattle abortions, encourage submission of samples for bovine spongiform encephalopathy testing, and encourage submission of granulomas from the 155 state-inspected slaughter facilities for tuberculosis testing. IDALS will conduct tuberculosis traces including epidemiological investigations (conducting 3 such traces in 2025 and assisting with veterinarian accreditation) and will participate cooperatively with USDA during foreign animal disease investigations on farms, with field staff assisting in sample collection, coordination, and investigation participation. Investigative information will be reported to the State Veterinarian and investigation summaries reported quarterly to USDA.

Activities to be performed: the iowa department of agriculture and land stewardship (idals) will conduct surveillance of poultry at county and state fairs for avian influenza using PCR testing (~152 pooled tests) through iowa state university diagnostic laboratory. This surveillance at fairs provides a mechanism for early detection of avian influenza, and will be reported quarterly to USDA to expand the annual USDA surveillance reporting. Idals also maintains a sick bird line that averages 35 calls per year, helping to enhance early detection of possible avian influenza. Sick bird calls will be reported quarterly to USDA. Idals will encourage the iowa state university (ISU) veterinary diagnostic laboratory to consider brucellosis as a differential diagnosis for abortions in cattle. Idals will encourage submission of samples for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) allowing for early detection. Idals will encourage submission of granulomas at the 155 state inspected at slaughter facilities for tuberculosis testing, allowing for early detection. Idals will conduct tuberculosis traces including epidemiological investigations. In 2025, idals conducted 3 tuberculosis traces and assisted with the accreditation of 71 veterinarians in iowa. Activities related to investigations and submission of samples will be reported to USDA quarterly. Idals will participate and work cooperatively with USDA during FAD investigations and any other applicable investigations on farms. Idals field staff will assist in taking samples, coordinating and participating in any investigations on farms. The investigative information collected will be reported to the state veterinarian and a summary of the number of investigations will be reported quarterly to the USDA. Idals conducts on average 70 FAD investigations per year. Idals has an epidemiological questionnaire that is used for each infected site investigated. Based on answers to the questionnaire further interviews and/or audits will occur for the infected premises and contacts. For avian fads, idals will oversee depopulation, disposal, virus elimination, epidemiological investigations, and surveillance testing. Idals will enhance preparedness for foreign animal diseases. Idals will collaborate with public health officials to investigate one health events. Idals will continue work with both aphis and the idhhs to investigate potential human zoonotic disease exposures and zoonotic disease outbreaks through regular communications between the state veterinarian, assistant state veterinarians, state public health veterinarian, USDA area veterinarian in charge and USDA area epidemiologist. Idals staff will examine all sheep for zoonotic diseases such as ringworm or sore mouth prior to exhibition at the 2026 iowa state fair and provide education to exhib itors. In 2025, approximately 1,600 sheep were inspected prior to exhibition. Preventing zoonotic diseases indirectly protects the over 1 million visitors to the iowa state fair. Idals will continue to investigate other significant animal health events including emerging diseases and unusual zoonotic disease occurrences of unknown cause, including actively working with other states and public health partners. These activities will be reported to USDA quarterly. Idals will identify high risk swine herds that are raised outdoors with possible exposure to feral swine. Idals will search for swine being FED garbage. These activities will be reported to USDA quarterly. Deliverables and expected outcomes: idals will collect 1,250 tonsils from high-risk swine to be tested for african swine fever and classical swine fever. If swine are found to be potentially exposed to feral swine, they will be tested for pseudorabies and swine brucellosis. Animals identified as positive for program diseases such as tuberculosis or brucellosis will be traced back to their herd of origin and determination will be made whether to test the herd of origin. These deliverables will be reported quarterly to USDA. In 2025, idals conducted 3 tuberculosis traces and assisted with the accreditation of 71 veterinarians in iowa. Idals will collect samples from poultry for avian influenza surveillance testing using PCR testing (~152 pooled tests). Idals also maintains a sick bird line that averages 35 calls per year, helping to enhance early detection of possible avian influenza. Idals will provide educational materials on idals website and social media regarding biosecurity, including backyard flocks. Deliverables and outcomes related to sample collection, sick bird calls, and educational materials will be reported quarterly to USDA. A sheep and goat identification (ID) compliance spreadsheet will be completed and submitted quarterly to the national sheep and goat epidemiologist. The district veterinarians will conduct outreach by talking to producer groups, submitting articles for producer and veterinarian newsletters, and by providing materials on scrapie ID and record keeping for producers at livestock markets and concentration points. Idals will regularly inspect markets and dealers to monitor sheep and goat ID and recordkeeping compliance, reporting outcomes QU arterly to USDA. Passive and active surveillance for foreign animal and program diseases (avian influenza, tuberculosis, brucellosis, ASF/CSF etc.) allows for early detection of disease facilitating a swifter response and increasing the likelihood of stamping out the disease in a timely manner. Idals conducts on average 70 FAD investigations per year, with approximately 20 being avian investigations. Activity outcomes will be reported quarterly to USDA. Intended beneficiary(IES): nationwide, iowa is at the heart of the a griculture and livestock industries. Agriculture in iowa is more than a $20 billion industry with over 43 million livestock in at any given time. Iowa ranks number 1 for pigs (~23 million hogs) and layers (~43 million laying hens), number 4 for cattle on feed (~1.2 million), number 7 for turkeys (~11 million turkeys), number 9 for sheep and lambs (~161,000 head), and number 11 for dairy (~245,000 head) nationally. Activities performed by idals and USDA will allow for rapid identification of affected herds/flocks, resulting in a faster response to control disease outbreaks and strengthening the protection of the agriculture and livestock industries. Providing education to newly accredited veterinarians also supports further surveillance and preparedness for the industry in iowa. The entire livestock industry in iowa will benefit from enhanced surveillance for program diseases and enhanced preparedness for foreign animal diseases. Idals staff are involved in work and surveillance activities at over 100 county fairs as well as at the iowa state fair. Over 1 million people attend the iowa state fair. Conducting surveillance for FAD (avian influenza) and zoonotic diseases (ringworm and sore mouth) not only protects iowa's animal industry but also the public. Subrecipient activities, if known or specified at the time of award: iowa state university will be paid to test samples for avian influenza and possibly pseudorabies. Budget: recipient personnel and fringe-- $262,808; recipient travel-- $24,850; supplies-- $9,898; contractual- avian PCR testing-- $4,560; other --$7,820; indirect costs-- $59,074