NIFA Grants Seek To Reduce Animal Disease Losses

Many of us are aware that crop damage caused by drought, natural disasters or insect infestations can seriously threaten the plant-based sector of the food supply. But animal disease also plays a major role in threatening the livestock portion of our nutritional resources, as such diseases cost the agricultural industry billions of dollars worldwide.

Therefore, the Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) last week provided more than $13 million for research into novel therapies and prevention strategies to limit animal disease. “The research we are funding with these grants will create new knowledge and spur discoveries that enhance production efficiency and improve animal health and welfare," said NIFA Director Dr. Carrie Castille.

NIFA awarded 24 grants as part of its Agriculture and Food Research Initiative’s Diseases of Agricultural Animals program. They will support projects at 17 universities focusing on disease prevention, vaccine development and management strategies to maintain healthy agricultural animals, including cattle, poultry, pigs, horses, sheep and fish.

For example, NIFA awarded $625,000 to a Texas A&M University project related to Marek’s Disease, which a cancer-like disease of chickens, caused by a herpes virus. The use of extensive vaccinations by the poultry industry has significantly reduced the disease burden, but the cost of the vaccination and the emergence of viruses capable of overcoming the vaccination pose a serious economic threat to the poultry industry. The Texas A&M Marek’s Disease project aims to reduce the cost of vaccinations for U.S. poultry producers.

Another award recipient, Cornell University, received $642,000 to develop effective vaccines for the swine influenza virus, which is one of the top respiratory infections in swine, causing significant economic losses to this industry every year. The complexity of this highly prevalent disease has made challenging to develop effective vaccines in the past.

Hopefully the research conducted under these grants will prove effective in reducing animal diseases and lower the global cost in lost revenues that such disease can cause.

Join us for our following Thompson Grants event:
Federal Grants Forum | May 11-13, 2022 | Portland, Ore.
Federal Grants Forum | June 15-17, 2022 | Denver, Colo.