USE OF DIAGNOSTIC DATA TO RAPIDLY DETECT AND RAISE STAKEHOLDER AWARENESS OF EMERGING BIOLOGICAL ANIMAL HEALTH AND PRODUCTION THREATS

This work aims to develop an early warning system to report changes in the diagnostic data and results. The proposed early warning system will be developed and implemented to describe, measure, and continuously monitor the association between different agent co-detections and agent genetic characteristics across USA regions. This information will allow to early-identify threatening agents and transfers information to communicate/educate producers, veterinarians, and competent authorities about eminent emerging or re-emerging livestock threats.The project will be developed and use data shared by a strategic collaboration between five National Animal Health Laboratory Network-accredited VDLs, universities, and key industry stakeholders that has previously led to the Swine Disease Reporting System (SDRS-https://www.fieldepi.org/SDRS). The specific aims are: Research goalsthis project will develop and implement a surveillance system on a real-time basis to: a) detect emerging or re-emerging animal health threats using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection data coupled with genetic sequences, and b) to assess the regional representativeness of the data. This will be established by implementing an analytical platform to develop and integrate a diverse set of statistical and bioinformatics components to continuously monitor the characteristics and association between different agents co-detections and agent genetics characteristics. This, in turn, will allows early identification of emerging or re-emerging animal health threats.Extension goalswill deliver science-based knowledge to livestock end-users on a formal and informal basis, raising stakeholder awareness of emerging biological threats. Extension activities include developing, disseminating, discussing content, and interacting with decision-makers within production systems and veterinary clinics to disseminate the knowledge derived from the research goals broadly. Producers are part of the decision making coordinating, allocating funds, making informed & practical decisions to facilitate science-driven animal health interventions to contain the spread of threatening agents or diseases.Education goalsaim to advance science and education to train students and cultivate future leaders who become engaged in animal livestock production, requiring a fundamental understanding of the importance of rapidly identifying and addressing emerging or re-emerging threats to USA livestock production. Thus our strategy is to develop and enact initiatives supporting an education platform that trains the next generation of industry leaders by engaging students and trainees at all levels of formal education to better understand the US livestock's ability to rapidly identify and address emerging or re-emerging threats to the US livestock production.