The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is continuing to advance animal disease preparedness and response through its Farm Bill animal health programs. APHIS is seeking project proposals for the National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program (NADPRP). The agency is also announcing its next round of noncompetitive funding to National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) laboratories and purchases for the National Animal Vaccine and Veterinary Countermeasures Bank (NAVVCB).
The 2018 Farm Bill provided funding for these programs as part of an overall strategy to help prevent animal pests and diseases from entering the United States and reduce the spread and impact of potential disease incursions through advance planning and preparedness. APHIS has invested over $172 million since 2019 in these critical programs.
National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program
APHIS will make available up to $16.5 million in funds to support new NADPRP projects in FY 2025. Projects selected for funding will be awarded in spring 2025.
NADPRP helps our nation prevent and respond to high consequence animal pest and disease outbreaks through cooperative or interagency agreements between APHIS and States, universities, livestock producer organizations, Tribal organizations, land-grant universities, and other eligible entities. This program enhances APHIS’ animal health efforts through collaboration with animal health partners throughout the nation. Together, APHIS and its partners carry out high-value projects that enhance prevention, preparedness, detection, and response to the most damaging emerging and foreign animal diseases that threaten U.S. agriculture.
APHIS invites stakeholders to submit proposals for the FY 2025 NADPRP funding opportunity. The open period for submitting proposals runs from August 8, 2024 to October 18, 2024. Through NADPRP, APHIS supports projects focused on advancing animal disease preparedness and response capabilities in priority topic areas developed through stakeholder consultation. The priority topics are detailed in the funding opportunity announcement.
Those interested in submitting proposals should visit the APHIS Funding Opportunities or APHIS NADPRP websites for resources and guidance, including the funding opportunity announcement, application instructions, frequently asked questions, templates, help session webinar information, and more. Applicants can also find information on the ezFedGrants website or the Grants.gov website by searching CFDA number 10.025 or Funding Opportunity Number USDA-APHIS-10025-VSSP0000-25-0001. APHIS is offering a webinar to assist eligible entities who are interested in applying for NADPRP funding:
- Information for Applicants: FY 2025 NADPRP Funding Opportunity Thursday, August 15 at 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM ET To participate, join the conference from your computer at: Join ZoomGov Meeting https://www.zoomgov.com/j/1615624267?pwd=ZUphDfdJ5E43T7p0vOLBXwb4WVGt5N.1&from=addon Meeting ID: 161 562 4267 Passcode: 381331 Phone number for Audio Only +1 669 254 5252 US (San Jose)or +1 646 828 7666 US (New York)
In fall 2024, APHIS will provide an additional $500,000 in the NADPRP Tribal funding opportunity to enhance Tribal animal disease preparedness and response capabilities. We will announce more information about this opportunity in the coming months.
National Animal Health Laboratory Network
The NAHLN is a nationally coordinated network and partnership of Federal, State, and university-associated animal health laboratories providing animal health diagnostic testing to detect both foreign and endemic high-consequence pathogens in the nation’s food animals, which is vital to protecting animal health, public health, and the nation’s food supply. Should foreign animal disease strike, these laboratories are the first line of defense in swiftly diagnosing and detecting the extent of the outbreak to limit the impact on producers.
APHIS will make a total of $6 million available in noncompetitive funding for operational support to NAHLN laboratories in FY 2025. This will help ensure they have the personnel resources to provide early detection, rapid response, and appropriate recovery from high-consequence animal diseases. More information on NAHLN is available on the NAHLN website.
National Animal Vaccine and Veterinary Countermeasures Bank
The NAVVCB allows APHIS to stockpile animal vaccines and other related products, serving as an effective insurance policy in the extremely rare chance of an outbreak of certain high-consequence foreign animal diseases, like foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus. APHIS has invested more than $78 million in the NAVVCB from FY 2020 through FY 2024 and will invest up to $6 million in additional NAVVCB purchases in FY 2025 including FMD vaccine antigen concentrate and diagnostic test kits. While we are confident we can keep FMD out of the country as we have since 1929, having access to a vaccine antigen concentrate would be a critical tool to stop the spread of disease, allowing America’s farmers and ranchers to get back on their feet more quickly. This purchase will make more doses available should they be needed.
More information about all these programs is available at: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/laws-regs/farm-bill
[Source: USDA APHIS 8 August 2024]