The shivwits band of paiute indians (tribe), a sovereign federally recognized indian tribe with a land base of 28,000 acres in southwestern utah submits this application for their building capacity…

The Shivwits Band of Paiutes received a $713,554 project grant award from the U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service under the Zoonotic Disease Initiative (CFDA 15.069) program. The tribe will conduct zoonotic disease surveillance and prevention activities through its "Building Capacity for Wildlife Zoonosis Surveillance and Prevention" project. Services will include educating tribal members and the local community about zoonotic disease threats, training tribal personnel to conduct surveillance, and collaborating with regional partners. The project aims to address gaps in wildlife and companion animal surveillance and investigation, develop new surveillance tools and strategies, expand knowledge of species disease susceptibility, and identify prevention measures at the human-animal-environment interface. These activities are consistent with the goals of the Zoonotic Disease Initiative to strengthen interjurisdictional wildlife health networks and protect ecosystems through landscape-level collaboration on emerging disease threats.

The shivwits band of paiute indians (tribe), a sovereign federally recognized indian tribe with a land base of 28,000 acres in southwestern utah submits this application for their building capacity for wildlife zoonosis surveillance and prevention project. The significant threats posed by zoonotic diseases, especially in areas where human populations are rapidly expanding into new geographic areas, such as in washington county, utah, necessitate increased vigilance and cooperation between jurisdictions and agencies. To combat these threats, the tribes project focuses on educating tribal members and the larger community about various zoonotic disease threats, training tribal personnel to conduct surveillance for those threats, and building the collaborative capacity between the tribe and regional partners to effectively combat zoonoses for the long term. Grounded in the one health approach, the tribes building capacity for wildlife zoonosis surveillance and prevention project is based on the idea that human health is closely connected to the health of animals and our shared environment, a belief long embraced by indigenous communities. With the one health model in mind, the tribes project addresses gaps in surveillance and investigation activities for zoonoses in wildlife and companion animals, develops surveillance tools and strategies for the rapid detection and characterization of zoonoses, expands knowledge of species susceptibility to zoonoses to improve understanding of potential routes of transmission, and helps identify effective interventions and other measures to prevent transmission of zoonotic disease at the human-animal-environment interface. The inter-agency, multi-jurisdictional synergism advocated in the tribes project has the potential to positively impact public health outcomes both locally and in the larger southwestern united states. The multi-jurisdictional and inter-agency collaboration at the heart of the tribes project is particularly important in an ERA when increasing climate and land use changes lead to opportunities for pathogen sharing among previously geographically isolated wildlife species. Having a cross-jurisdictional public health force trained in the prevention and detection of zoonoses is an essential component in the overall effort to prevent human outbreaks. By enhancing surveillance, promoting education and public awareness, and effectively addressing the prevention of and response to one health disease threats, the building capacity for wildlife zoonosis surveillance and prevention project will serve as a model for the type of collaborative, multisectoral action needed to combat zoonotic disease threats.