The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced $16.3 million in grants to 64 animal health projects, a news release said.
"Ensuring the health of animals helps protect and preserve U.S. export markets and keeping foreign animal diseases out of the U.S. helps us expand export opportunities for rural America to more and better markets," the agency said.
The grants will go to states, universities and other partners, APHIS said.
“These funding awards will help ensure the ongoing health of our nation’s livestock and poultry,” said Jenny Lester Moffitt, under secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs. “Safeguarding U.S. animal health helps us expand export opportunities for rural America to more and better markets, while providing consistent access to safe, healthy and affordable food for U.S. consumers. The preparedness and response activities we are funding today will help us address the animal disease issues of tomorrow and arm us with the best science available to retain international markets and feed our families and the world. I look forward to seeing the progress USDA and its partners make with these funds.”
The grants will fund projects on "enhancing vaccine distribution plans and supporting animal movement decisions in high-consequence animal disease outbreaks, delivering outreach and education on animal disease prevention and preparedness, and developing point-of-care diagnostic tests to rapidly detect foreign animal diseases," the news release said.
The funds will also go toward projects on early detection of "high-impact animal diseases and improve emergency response capabilities at veterinary diagnostic laboratories that are part of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN)," the agency said.
