In recognition of leadership in agriculture, health, and the environment, Penn Vet faculty have recently been awarded several state agricultural research grants.
The Penn Vet projects will investigate health issues affecting livestock, wildlife, and human well-being, including two projects designed to study different aspects of avian influenza. They amount to a quarter of the research projects that were awarded funding through this $2.2 million round of grants state-wide.
“Agricultural innovation is a top priority for the [Pennsylvania Governor Josh] Shapiro administration, and innovation starts with research,” said state agriculture secretary Russell Redding. “Pennsylvania is already committing $20 million to innovation. With these investments into the valuable research taking shape in leading academic institutions like Penn Vet, we’re going to compound on our efforts to keep Pennsylvania agriculture growing, strengthen our economy, and position our commonwealth as a national leader in agriculture.”
One of the grants, totaling over $69,000, will fund two projects studying issues involving avian influenza, a disease that has affected domestic livestock and that resulted in human spillover infections, and recently caused the large-scale die-offs of wild geese in Pennsylvania as well as some deaths in New Jersey.
In “Risk Factors for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Small Flocks,” Meghann Pierdon, an assistant professor of clinical production medicine, intends to study Pennsylvania farms with small poultry flocks, including their biosecurity plans and management practices. The project will involve site visits, biosecurity audits, and a structured questionnaire. Game cameras will also be used to capture bird and rodent activity.
The second avian flu study is “Reconstructing the Origins and Spread of Highly Pathogenic H5N1 Viruses Within Live Bird Markets in Pennsylvania,” led by Louise Moncla, an assistant professor of pathobiology. Through three separate studies, this project aims to “reveal key pathways by which H5N1 viruses are introduced and spread among wild birds, poultry, and markets and evaluate the risk that market amplification may pose to viral adaption,” according to its proposal to the state.
Dr. Moncla said she hopes that studying how these viruses are transmitted locally will uncover conserved pathways by which these viruses are introduced and spread in Pennsylvania, and lead to better outbreak prevention strategies.
The study “Transmission Dynamics of Antimicrobial Resistance Determination Between Minor Livestock and People,” which was awarded $35,097, will look at health-issue crossover between owners and animals like their pet pigs, goats, sheep, and llamas.
Source : upenn.edu