The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has just announced their grant awards for this year's CWD management and response. The department has awarded about $12 million in funding to selected entities. These awards are part of cooperative agreement funding to control and prevent chronic wasting disease in cervids, including the development and/or implementation of CWD surveillance, testing, management, and response activities.
Funding award decisions were made according to the following priorities:
- Improving CWD management of affected farmed herds and wild cervid populations
- Improving CWD management of affected areas or premises
- Researching amplification assays and other new test methods
- Researching the application of or implementing a whole genome predictive genetics CWD management plan for farmed cervid herds or wild populations
- Developing and/or delivering educational outreach materials or programs.
APHIS gave funding priority to governments that have already detected CWD in their region, or those that border CWD hot zones and have either implemented monitoring and surveillance programs, or plan to do so.
Here are the exact amounts and the entities to which CWD funds were awarded, as well as a brief title of the purpose of the funds.
Farmed Cervid Grant Awards
Wild Cervid Grant Awards
Tribal Grant Awards
“Deer, elk, moose, and other cervids are important wildlife resources that continue to be at risk of contracting chronic wasting disease,” said Jenny Lester Moffitt, USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs. “This funding will help APHIS and our state and Tribal partners find and implement new solutions to this challenging disease while protecting the health of animals and the livelihoods of our farmers.”
Expect to see a follow-up article from us on our thoughts on the allocation of funds and whether we think some of these decisions are in the best interest of controlling and preventing CWD.
