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This is a collaborative multi-institutional project initiated by the Department of Homeland Security. Core partners in this endeavor are Texas A&M University, University of California - Davis, University of Southern California, and University of Texas Medical Branch. Associate partners are University of Minnesota and Georgetown University. National Partners are Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories. State partners include California Department of Agriculture and Texas Animal Health Commission. Centers of Excellence are CREATE: Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events, NCFPD: National Center for Food Protection and Defense. The recipients or "customers" of this program are Office of the DHS Chief Medical Officer, DHS Preparedness Directorate, DHS National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, State Emergency Response Agencies and the Agriculture Industry.
NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: The FAZD Center is the integrated, full spectrum center protecting America from exotic and engineered animal diseases that threaten public health and economic stability. Its specific mission is to create products that defend the U.S. from the intentional use of animal-borne diseases to cause catastrophic harm. These products offer the dual benefit of protecting against natural or accidental outbreaks.
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APPROACH: Within the School of Veterinary Medicine at UCD, the independent project PI's. Dr. T. Yilma is responsible for the following projects: 1) Development of a rapid and inexpensive diagnostic kit for FMD, 2) Development of a rapid and inexpensive diagnostic kit for RVF, 3) Control of FMD by ribozyme gene therapy, 4) Development of a safe and efficacious vaccinia virus recombinant vaccine for RVF. Dr. Carol Cardona is responsible for "Characterization of avian influenza viruses in the live bird market settings). Drs. Bennie Osburn and Don Klingborg have a series of projects related to education and training to encourage reporting compliance among producers. Drs. Tim Carpenter and Mark Thurmond are responsible for the component dealing with informatics, modeling and analysis including the project "Spatial epidemiologic model of FMD in the US".