Through collaborations with the university of maryland, the U.S. Geological survey, and theuniversity of georgias southeastern cooperative wildlife disease study, the maryland department of natural…

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources received a $665,266 Project Grant award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Zoonotic Disease Initiative (CFDA 15.069) program. The award aims to address diversified wildlife surveillance planning, develop associated spatially explicit risk modeling, and create the Chesapeake Bay Wildlife Zoonotic Disease Working Group. This will participate in formalized structured decision making to inform wildlife disease management in the region, with initial emphasis on highly pathogenic avian influenza. A subaward of $35,000 was provided to the University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources to increase opportunistic disease surveillance and diagnostic capacity for highly pathogenic avian influenza virus, develop spatiotemporal avian influenza risk models, and assist with interjurisdictional capacity building. The three-year project period began June 2, 2023 and is scheduled to conclude by September 30, 2026.

Through collaborations with the university of maryland, the U.S. Geological survey, and theuniversity of georgias southeastern cooperative wildlife disease study, the maryland department of natural resources aims to address diversified wildlife surveillance planning, develop associated spatially explicit risk modeling, and create the chesapeake BAY wildlife zoonotic disease working group which will participate in formalized structured decision making practices to inform wildlife disease management in the region, with initial emphasis on high pathogenicity avian influenza (hpai) and future structure for emerging zoonotic-based one health issues. We propose here through these collaborative efforts to build capacity to address disease sampling and diagnostic testing for a much broader diversity of wildlife species, assessing potential immunity and susceptibility, along with spatial distribution modeling to proactively inform risk and management decisions. Surveillance, immunological data, and modeling can then be leveraged to better inform emergency wildlife management decisions and planning across multiple states. We will collect these data in part through a formation of a regional working group chesapeake BAY wildlife zoonotic disease working group to address avian influenza impacts via decision making in a social science context. The working group along with other stakeholders will also leverage on-going experiences through a framework of decision analysis, prioritizing uncertainties surrounding avian influenza as well as in the handling of future zoonotic disease outbreaks to strengthen any emergency disease response.current federal sampling regimes for avian influenza primarily address waterfowl, specificallydabbling ducks, which are likely species representing high transmission and dispersal rates. However, the landscape of the transmission and dispersal dynamics of the current H5N1 avian influenza have changed and adapted, resulting in an increased role that diverse migratory bird groups play in the epidemiology of avian influenza. The leveraging of existing monitoring work for disease sampling will provide an improved understanding of the impacts and role diverse wildlife species play in the epidemiological ecology of avian influenza. Despite the previously recognized need to identify areas along the wild bird and domestic poultry interface at which avian influenza transmission is most likely to occur, there is now also a need to extend these modeling efforts to include the varied bird species being affected and likely impacting both transmission and vulnerable populations. The risk modeling proposed here will provide an improved understanding of the role diverse wildlife are playing in the future and continued transmission of avian influenza.a structured decision-making (SDM) analytical framework will be employed to refine the responseto avian influenza mitigation and management across different scales, providing tools to identify actionswhich would best reduce the glaring uncertainties of the hpai disease system. The working group willorganize formalized, inclusive workshops which will address distinct decision-making problems for targetspecies such as seabirds or raptors. Additionally, this group will address the need for an emergency planning framework to adjust task forces within the working group based on additional wildlife emerging diseases at they develop and facilitate communication across the region. The data produced by this project will be used by the state of maryland to make informed decisionson the management of susceptible wildlife in the state and will be shared through the formation of thechesapeake BAY wildlife zoonotic disease working group with state agencies, researchers, biologists, veterinarians, the agricultural sector, and other stakeholders throughout the chesapeake BAY and mid-atlantic region.