USDA invests US$17.6M to advance livestock health, combat major animal diseases

USA – The USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has announced an investment of US$17.6 million to bolster agricultural research and safeguard livestock health and welfare. 

Central to USDA’s One Health approach, this initiative addresses critical challenges facing animal health, including highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and African swine fever (ASF), which pose significant risks to global food security and animal trade.

NIFA Director Manjit Misra emphasised the importance of maintaining livestock health for a resilient and sustainable food system. 

“Healthy livestock are more productive and less likely to spread diseases that can impact humans,” Misra stated, underscoring the program’s role in disease control and environmental sustainability.

He added that protecting the health and welfare of agricultural animals is integral to ensuring a safe, sustainable, resilient, and ethically sound food system.

The investment allocates US$12.7 million to 27 projects under NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative’s Diseases of Agricultural Animals program. 

These projects focus on whole-animal health, particularly disease prevention and control. Notably, several projects will explore vaccine development to combat the spread of HPAI and ASF. 

For example, University of Georgia researchers aim to develop mass vaccination strategies for avian influenza, while MIT scientists are working on engineered vaccine antigens for ASF. Though not directly harmful to humans, both diseases threaten the global livestock industry.

An additional US$4.8 million will fund ten projects under NIFA’s Welfare of Agricultural Animals program to improve animal welfare and address climate adaptation. 

Among these, Purdue University researchers are studying ducks’ heat tolerance, which could be applied to broader poultry production in a changing climate. 

These scientists plan to develop guidelines that outline optimal management and breeding strategies for improving heat tolerance in poultry, offering a potential long-term solution to climate change’s impacts on poultry production globally.

The University of Vermont is investigating how early-life calf management affects long-term behavioural development, emotional states, and physiological stress in dairy cattle. 

The results will benefit the dairy cattle industry by increasing longevity and improving animal welfare and care standards.

This funding highlights USDA’s ongoing commitment to ensuring a secure and ethically responsible food system while addressing the interconnected health challenges humans, animals, and ecosystems face.

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