The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is seeking project proposals for the National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program (NADPRP) and the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN). The agency is also announcing its next round of 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. Projects selected for funding will be awarded in FY 2023.

APHIS will make available up to $24.5 million in funds for NADPRP and NAHLN. NADPRP proposals must be submitted by 11:59 PM EDT on September 9, 2022 and NAHLN proposals must be submitted on October 1, 2022.

NADPRP

NADPRP addresses the risk of introduction and spread of high-consequence animal pests and diseases 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 will provide up to $17 million for this year’s NADPRP projects focused on advancing animal disease preparedness and response capabilities in eight priority topic areas developed through stakeholder consultation. The full list of topics are detailed in the funding opportunity announcement.

The funding opportunity announcement, including application instructions and additional information, is available on the NADPRP website. Applicants can also find information on the on the ezFedGrants website or the Grants.gov website by searching CFDA number 10.025 or Funding Opportunity Number USDA-APHIS-10025-VSSP0000-23-0002. APHIS is offering a webinar to assist eligible entities who are interested in applying for NADPRP funding:

• Information for Applicants: USDA APHIS 2022 NADPRP Funding Opportunity
  Wednesday, June 29 at 2:00 PM EDT
  To participate, join the conference at: Join ZoomGov Meeting https://www.zoomgov.com/j/1603972567

In fall 2022, APHIS will provide an additional funding opportunity for tribal animal disease preparedness and response capabilities. APHIS also intends to allocate an additional $500,000 through the NADPRP program to support two nationally coordinated, APHIS-led projects. One project will enhance animal disease traceability at high-volume livestock commingling points such as ports of entry ($250,000) and a second project will increase communications to NADPRP eligible entities about the value and impact of projects funded to date in the NADPRP program.

NAHLN

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 $7.5 million available to NAHLN. This will include $5.25 million to be provided to the NAHLN laboratories in noncompetitive funding for operational support. APHIS will provide up to $2.25 million in additional funds through a competitive process for those NAHLN projects benefiting the entire network focused on stockpile/capacity maintenance, IT standardization, high-capacity diagnostic equipment, and increasing technical personnel.

Application instructions and additional information are available on the NAHLN website or can be requested from the NAHLN program office at NAHLN@usda.gov.

NAVVCB

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 will invest an additional $30 million in NAVVCB purchases in FY 2022 and FY 2023, including FMD vaccine and diagnostic test kits. While APHIS is confident it can keep FMD out of the country it has since 1929, having access to vaccine 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. For the first time, APHIS will also purchase diagnostic test kits for the NAVVCB stockpile.

More information about all these programs is available at: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/resources/farmbill.

Source: USDA-APHIS