Location: Zoonotic and Emerging Disease Research
Project Number: 3022-32000-027-038-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jun 15, 2026
End Date: Sep 14, 2028
Objective:
The objective of this agreement is to establish and implement an integrated One Health surveillance and research platform to identify, characterize, and assess transboundary emerging zoonotic virus threats at livestock-wildlife-human interfaces in South Asia. The project will generate information needed to improve early detection, risk assessment, and preparedness for foreign and emerging diseases that could threaten livestock health, agricultural trade, food security, and public health. Specific objectives are to: Conduct coordinated wildlife, livestock, human, and environmental surveillance to detect high-consequence and emerging zoonotic viruses circulating at high-risk interfaces. Identify and characterize viruses of agricultural and public health concern, including henipaviruses, filoviruses, paramyxoviruses, and other previously undetected or poorly characterized viral pathogens. Strengthen understanding of reservoir ecology, host range, viral diversity, and transmission dynamics among wildlife, livestock, and people. Support investigation of unexplained febrile, respiratory, and neurological illness events where zoonotic or transboundary viral pathogens may be contributing to disease. Evaluate immune responses and exposure patterns in affected or at-risk populations to improve understanding of infection history, transmission pathways, and potential risk factors. Integrate ecological, behavioral, and epidemiological data to identify drivers of viral spillover, including wildlife movement, livestock contact, land-use change, and human practices that increase exposure risk. Generate data, protocols, and analytical frameworks that can inform early warning systems, diagnostic development, risk mitigation strategies, and evidence-based One Health policy. Support United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) priorities by improving global awareness of foreign and emerging zoonotic disease threats before they affect American agriculture, livestock producers, agricultural markets, and national biosecurity. This agreement will provide actionable information on pathogens and transmission pathways that are relevant to protecting United States agriculture from accidental or intentional introduction of foreign animal and zoonotic diseases. The outcomes will also help strengthen preparedness, surveillance capacity, and response planning for high-consequence pathogens of concern to livestock, wildlife, and human health systems.
Approach:
The Cooperator will apply an integrated One Health approach that combines field surveillance, laboratory testing, genomic analysis, epidemiology, immunology, ecology, and social science to identify and characterize emerging zoonotic virus threats at livestock-wildlife-human interfaces in South Asia. Activities will be conducted using approved protocols, appropriate biosafety and biosecurity practices, and applicable regulatory and ethical approvals. The Cooperator will identify high-risk surveillance locations where wildlife reservoirs, livestock systems, and human populations overlap. Field activities may include collection of appropriate wildlife, livestock, human, and environmental specimens; documentation of relevant metadata; and assessment of ecological and behavioral factors associated with potential spillover. Wildlife surveillance will focus on species and settings with known or suspected relevance to zoonotic virus maintenance and transmission, including bats and small mammals. Livestock and human surveillance will focus on interfaces where unexplained illness, frequent animal contact, or environmental exposure may indicate increased risk. Laboratory testing will use molecular, serological, genomic, and immunological methods to detect evidence of current or prior infection and to characterize viruses of concern. Molecular assays and high-throughput sequencing may be used to identify known, divergent, or novel viruses. Serological and immunological methods may be used to evaluate exposure history, host immune responses, and patterns of infection among affected or at-risk populations. Viral sequence data and associated metadata will be analyzed to assess pathogen diversity, evolutionary relationships, geographic patterns, and potential cross-species transmission. The Cooperator will also support One Health outbreak investigations when unexplained febrile, respiratory, neurological, or livestock-associated illness events suggest possible zoonotic or transboundary disease risk. These investigations may include coordinated specimen collection, diagnostic testing, exposure assessment, and analysis of human, animal, wildlife, and environmental risk factors. Data from outbreak investigations will be integrated with community and hospital-based surveillance information to help identify diagnostic gaps and improve early detection of emerging threats. Ecological and behavioral studies will be used to evaluate drivers of spillover. These may include analysis of wildlife movement using Global Positioning System data, assessment of livestock and wildlife contact patterns, evaluation of land-use and environmental change, and characterization of human behaviors that influence exposure risk. Findings will be integrated into risk assessment frameworks to identify settings, practices, and interfaces where prevention or enhanced surveillance may be most effective. Results will be shared through technical reports, datasets, protocols, risk assessments, scientific publications, and stakeholder engagement products, as appropriate. The work will produce information that supports surveillance system development, diagnostic prioritization, workforce training