The NAHLN Update 2022
Volume 13, No. 1
THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE NATIONAL ANIMAL HEALTH LABORATORY NETWORK (NAHLN)
A STATE AND FEDERAL PARTNERSHIP TO SAFEGUARD ANIMAL HEALTH 
Founding Principles and Features of the NAHLN
  • Operate within a quality management system
  • Establish and maintain competency of laboratory personnel
  • Use Standardized protocols, reference materials, and equipment
  • Use facilities with biosafety/biosecurity levels requisite for testing performed
  • Participate in communications and real time electronic reporting systems
  • Evaluate preparedness (identify and prioritize gaps) through scenario testing 
In This Issue:

Recurring call schedule

Upcoming calls/events

News Brief

Important Update for Cooperative Agreement, Grants, Indemnity, Contracts, and Procurement Awards Recipients

2020 NAHLN AMR pilot project - Year 3 report

Farm Bill Update

NAHLN Electronic Data Management Summit

Exercise for Preparedness

Getting to know us

Evaluation of Messaging Competency Events, 2018-2021

Laboratory Director Feature:

NAHLN Laboratory Response Planning

SARS-CoV2 Update
Recurring call schedule:

NAHLN Coordinating Council (CC) calls occur on the third Monday of each month.
NAHLN Methods Technical Working Group (MTWG) Core group calls occur on the second Wednesday of each month, except for months with quarterly MTWG general membership calls (January, April, July, and October).

NAHLN Exercises and Drills Working Group (EDWG) calls occur on the third Thursday of each month. People interested in serving on this group should email the NAHLN Program Office (NPO) by clicking here.

NAHLN IT committee core group and general membership calls occur bi-monthly on the first Wednesday of the month. People interested in attending either the core or general call can do so by selecting the personnel contact options of either IT Core Committee member or IT General Committee member in the APHIS Laboratory Portal.




Upcoming calls/events:
  • March 31, 1 PM CT Quarterly NAHLN Laboratory Director webinar
  • April 20, 1 PM CT MTWG General Membership





Input Welcome! 

We appreciate hearing from you! 
Are there other topics that you would like to hear about? Please email your comments to us at NAHLN@usda.gov.
  Current Number of Subscribers: 
1216
Fun Facts
Did you know the FAD PReP Material and References website includes information on:
  • Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI)
  • Virulent Newcastle Disease (vND)
  • and many more useful resources.

 News Brief:
The NAHLN Program Office has released the 2022-2025 NAHLN Strategic Plan. The plan includes priority areas and specific activities recommended by the NAHLN Coordinating Council and approved by the NAHLN Executive Committee.  2022-2025 NAHLN Strategic Plan

_____________________________________________________

The Integrated Consortium of Laboratory Networks (ICLN) provides for the efficient coordination of federally sponsored analytical laboratory services in the resolution of incidents resulting from chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear contamination and emerging threats through inter-network strategic and operational planning, communication and information sharing, and resource and response coordination. NAHLN is one of seven laboratory networks that participates in the ICLN and support cross network evaluations and responses.

Two activities NAHLN is participating in include:
The ICLN COVID-19 Lessons-Learned Workgroup created to identify gaps based on experiences among the member laboratory networks that inhibited pandemic response activities. Lessons learned and recommendations for improvements have been documented in a report that is currently undergoing review and approvals. 

NAHLN will participate in a Biological/Radiological (Bio/Rad) Tabletop Exercise (TTX) in 2022. Planning is underway for an exercise that will support the following objectives:
  1. Determine the capability of labs to analyze samples that are dually contaminated with a biological and radiological/chemical agent (i.e., a sample with mixed agents in it).
  2. Determine issues related to analyzing samples contaminated with radiological/chemical agents (e.g., contamination of machinery, etc.). 
  3. Address the sequence of which agent gets analyzed first with a mixed agent sample. 

Article submitted by Christina M. Loiacono, DVM, PhD, DACVP, Coordinator, NAHLN Program Office, USDA APHIS VS D & B, NVSL.
Important Update for Cooperative Agreement, Grants, Indemnity, Contracts, and Procurement Awards Recipients
By April 4, 2022, the Federal Government will stop using the Dun & Bradstreet Numbering System (DUNS) that uniquely identifies entities in the System for Award Management (SAM). Moving forward, you will need to have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) created in SAM.gov. The General Services Administration is implementing this change to make it easier and less burdensome for entities to do business with the Federal Government.

What does this mean for NAHLN Laboratories?
Entities that are recipients of cooperative agreements, grants, indemnities, contract and procurement awards with APHIS and AMS will no longer have to go to a third-party website to obtain their identifier.
 
What actions do NAHLN Labs that already do business with AMS and APHIS have to take to create a UEI in SAM.gov?
NAHLN Laboratories already registered in SAM.gov will have their UEI automatically assigned and viewable within SAM.gov. There is no action required for these registered entities to take at this time.
 
Where can I find more information on the implementation of UEI?
Please direct any questions related to indemnification and UEI exemptions to the attention of fost@usda.gov
2020 National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) pilot project - Year 3 report
The 2020 NAHLN AMR pilot project – Year 3 report was published to the NAHLN website. This report describes AMR data collected and funded by the USDA during the third year of the pilot, January 1 – December 31, 2020. Additionally, it presents trends analysis for the first three years of the AMR pilot project. The report may be accessed here.

Article submitted by Traci Imlau, Program Assistant, NAHLN Program Office, USDA APHIS VS D & B, NVSL.
NAHLN Farm Bill
2019 Farm Bill Showcase
The NAHLN program office hosted a showcase of the 2019 NAHLN Farm Bill projects over 2 days in November 2021.
25 approved projects
  • 17 presented at showcase (Two 3-hour webinars, November 2021) – 15 minutes each
  • 3 presented at AAVLD/USAHA Joint Committee on NAHLN (October 2021)
  • 5 abstract only (Capacity building)
  • Abstracts for all projects provided in Proceedings book 

The 2020 NAHLN Farm Bill showcase is tentatively scheduled for November 2022.


2021 NAHLN Farm Bill Projects
APHIS is awarding $4.4 million through the NAHLN. The 21 NAHLN funded projects will be led by NAHLN laboratories representing 14 states. The projects will help NAHLN enhance early detection of high-consequence animal diseases and improve emergency response capabilities at NAHLN veterinary diagnostic laboratories. This funding is in addition to the $2.5 million provided noncompetitively for NAHLN infrastructure. The list of approved projects may be accessed here


2021 Joint NADPRP/NAHLN
APHIS is awarding $4.3 million for 7 NADPRP/NAHLN joint projects representing 6 States. These projects will support the development and/or evaluation of point-of-care diagnostic tests to enhance the nation’s ability to quickly detect high-consequence FADs and accelerate response and containment efforts. This is the first joint competitive funding opportunity provided by NAHLN and NADPRP. The list of approved projects may be accessed here.


2022 NAHLN Farm Bill Funding
VS is reviewing several different models for the 2022 NAHLN Farm Bill funding opportunity. These include distributing the funding in a noncompetitive funding model, a competitive funding model or a hybrid model with a percentage of funding being distributed noncompetitively and a percentage of funding being distributed through a competitive process. In all cases specific priorities for the funding are also being considered. Input from the NAHLN Coordinating Council, Laboratory Directors and the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians is being gathered for consideration in the final recommendations.

Look for the next opportunity announcements in the Spring of 2022.

Article submitted by Traci Imlau, Program Assistant, NAHLN Program Office, USDA APHIS VS D & B, NVSL.
NAHLN Electronic Data Management Summit
The NAHLN Electronic Data Management Summit was a recommendation from the Coordinating Council and suggested in the recent NAHLN 2021 Activity Report. The Data Summit took place over 2 days in December 2021. The Data Summit focused on the following 5 areas identified by a stakeholder survey:

Data quality
  • Multi-faceted issue – includes both missing data and incorrect data
  • What type of incentives can be offered to submitters to help improve data quality?

Data Standardization
  • Appears to be two somewhat independent needs for messaging – outbreak response (wartime) and surveillance (peacetime)
  • Is there a need for two different types of messages? How will order messaging fit in to this?

Communications
  • Request for a cross-walk document that would reference all the current messaging guides.
  • Request to re-visit how Program OIDs are being used – very important for VS to be able to identify surveillance stream; how can this be done differently?

Resources
  • Shortage of IT personnel for NAHLN labs – creative solutions?
  • Onboarding new people, cross-training current staff
  • Identify minimum basic skills for NAHLN lab needs
  • What training opportunities could be explored? 
  • NSTP-like program, provide education for employment payback
  • ORISE fellowships to accomplish specific learning opportunities

IT/Messaging Tools
  • How can EMS be leveraged to achieve full interoperability?
  • Utilize a centralized data entry concept, define how this will look for both the field and lab
  • Harmonize message structures across all VS applications

Next steps
  • Leverage regularly scheduled NAHLN IT Core calls to continue the discussion
  • Develop action plans for addressing major themes such as: Standardized requirements; Centralized data entry for field and lab; Training opportunities; Incentives for high data quality; and Order message.

Article submitted by Traci Imlau, Program Assistant, NAHLN Program Office, USDA APHIS VS D & B, NVSL.
Exercise for Preparedness
Foreign Animal Disease Southern Agriculture Functional Exercise (FAD SAFE) November of 2021

Eleven states, including their NAHLN laboratories, and one territory participated in a functional exercise planned for four days with varied participation from federal, state, tribal, and local agencies, as well as industry. Alabama (AL), Florida (FL), Georgia (GA), Kentucky (KY), Louisiana, (LA), Mississippi (MS), Oklahoma (OK), South Carolina (SC), Texas (TX), Virginia (VA), West Virginia (WV), and Puerto Rico (PR) were included. The exercise was sponsored by the USDA Veterinary Services Training and Exercise Program.

On Day 1 of the exercise, one of the participating states identified FMD and began a response. Once the outbreak was identified, the infected state and VS worked through notifications to announce the disease and any associated mitigation steps. The notifications drove the other participating states to implement various mitigation activities, such as surveillance, risk assessment, and other preparedness activities. Through Days 2, 3, and 4, additional states dealt with detections of FMD infection of livestock. Days 2 through 4 focused on mitigation of and response to the FMD outbreak, including the necessary coordination between federal, state, and local responders, as well as between these entities and the impacted industries and the public.

NAHLN laboratories were utilized to varying degrees of their states during the exercise; however, all NAHLN laboratories were asked to respond to injects developed by the NAHLN Exercises and Drills Working Group specifically for the labs each day. Dr. Kelli Almes from the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, a Level 1 NAHLN laboratory, provided the injects, oversite and support to the participating laboratories. Strengths identified through the exercise were the participation of the laboratories, communications within the Network and understanding of the use of deviation requests. Challenges and areas for improvements included communication within the states, understanding of the benefits for the use of a NAHLN lab in some states, and having the laboratories provide constructive guidance to field staff in order to receive appropriate samples in good condition.

Article submitted by Christina M. Loiacono, DVM, PhD, DACVP, Coordinator, NAHLN Program Office, USDA APHIS VS D & B, NVSL

Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory Exercises Readiness for African Swine Fever Outbreak
On May 20, 2021, members of the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (KSVDL), along with the Kansas Department of Agriculture, the Biosecurity Research Institute, and many other partners across the Kansas State University campus, the state of Kansas, and the National Animal Health Laboratory Network took part in a table-top exercise focused on laboratory activities during the various stages of a simulated outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF). This exercise was made possible by a funded proposal as part of the 2020 National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) Funding Opportunity under Section 12101 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (aka 2018 Farm Bill). The entire proposal encompasses this table-top event along with a functional exercise that will occur January 24-25, 2022, and the completion of an after-action report that can be utilized by the entire NAHLN network in order to advance preparedness for an ASF outbreak in the United States. The tabletop exercise was written and facilitated by the National Agricultural Biosecurity Center at Kansas State University, and a template of this exercise is available through the NAHLN Program Office.
While KSVDL has participated in many foreign animal disease exercises sponsored by other regulatory partners, this was the first to focus primarily on the activities of the laboratory itself. The functional exercise will involve actual testing of mock samples and will help KSVDL assess actual surge capacity for ASF response, with concentration on accessioning and testing. To help prepare for these activities, KSVDL has also formed a Foreign Animal Disease Committee and is completing work on an on-line Foreign Animal Disease Testing Submission Form to facilitate electronic submissions in the event of an outbreak.  

Article submitted by Kelli Almes, DVM, DACVP, FAD/Outbreak Section Head Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
Getting to know us: Robin Holland
Dr. Robin Holland has been serving as Head of the Diagnostic Services Section (DSS) in the Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (FADDL) since September 2020.

Dr. Holland’s role as Diagnostic Service Section Head is to oversee all foreign animal disease investigations completed at FADDL. She serves as a point of contact between the field and the lab, relaying updates and reporting results to submitters and providing support to our stakeholders to ensure the highest quality of diagnostic testing for foreign animal diseases. She enjoys developing strategies with our colleagues and partners to increase our diagnostic capabilities to address fundamental challenges to transboundary and emerging infectious diseases.

Dr. Holland's federal career began in September 2020 as the Diagnostic Services Section Head at FADDL. She was fortunate to train in other areas of the federal government, where she gained a heartfelt appreciation for public service. Dr. Holland is thrilled to have the opportunity to work in a team that embodies all of her professional and scientific interests.

Prior to Dr. Holland's position at FADDL, she was the lead researcher for COVID-19 diagnostic testing at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As part of a small team of scientists, they developed a new COVID-19 diagnostic assay in April of 2020, which grew into a high throughput testing platform that has been deployed in dozens of other institutions around the United States. Our lab at the University of Illinois held the capacity to test 10,000-15,000 samples every day.
Dr. Holland received a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture at Murray State University. She received a DVM, and Ph.D. at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in the Veterinary Medical Scholars Program and received an NIH National Research Service Award. During her graduate and professional training, she had the good fortune to study and train at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases on Fort Detrick in Frederick, MD, the Diagnostic Bioanalytical and Reagent Lab in Ames, IA, the Friedrich Loeffler Institute in Greifswald, Germany, and the Federal University of Parana in Curitiba, Brazil.

Dr. Holland will forever consider herself a farm kid. She grew up on a small family-owned and operated a dairy farm in northwestern Illinois; and she learned the values of hard work, being reliable, and living a life of respect towards others. Dr. Holland can still parallel park a tractor better than she can a car, and she will always hold a fondness for the outdoors, hiking, and exploring.

Dr. Holland’s thoughts on the NAHLN Program/mission: 
"Especially considering lessons learned from COVID-19, the NAHLN is a model for how laboratories should work together in response to global challenges. By establishing a formal network, defining roles and responsibilities, and creating communication workflows for tools and resources, the NAHLN massively expands the preparedness and the ability of the US to respond to a disease incursion. I am honored to play even a small role in this concerted effort to expand our disease response capabilities through the NAHLN, and I am very excited about new initiatives and to meet and work with everyone in the network as well."

Dr. Holland's husband Evan works for the US Geological Survey, and they have one very fluffy mixed-breed rescue dog and two moderately obnoxious cats.

Article submitted by Traci Imlau, Program Assistant, NAHLN Program Office, USDA APHIS VS D & B, NVSL.
Evaluation of Messaging Competency Events, 2018-2021
Messaging competencies were developed in 2018 at the request of the NAHLN laboratories to provide a venue for practicing sending electronic messages to Veterinary Services’ (VS) LMS database. Messaging competencies allow laboratories to practice their electronic messaging capability for diseases that they do not test for routinely as well as provide a spot check to verify that periodic messaging updates are being integrated correctly into the laboratory’s message. Other benefits include ensuring that all IT systems and software are functioning properly and serving as an early detection mechanism for any messaging issues not previously identified.

Since 2018 the number of laboratories messaging have steadily increased, from 24 laboratories in 2015 to 57 laboratories in 2021 (Figure 1). Similarly, the number of laboratories participating in messaging competencies have also increased from 40 labs in its inception in 2018 to 56 laboratories in 2021. This trend follows the requirement initiated by the NAHLN Program Office in 2018 to have all Level 1 laboratories messaging all diseases they are approved to test for by the end of the federal fiscal year (FY) 2019 (Sep 30, 2019). All Level 2 laboratories met the same requirement by Sep 30, 2020 and Level 3 laboratories by Sep 30, 2021. 
NAHLN Laboratory Participation
Figure 2 depicts the number of participating laboratories for each of the nine messaging competency events provided by the NAHLN, from 2018 through 2021. Most laboratories in the NAHLN are approved to test for avian influenza (IAV-A), Newcastle disease (APMV-1), African swine fever (ASF), Classical swine fever (CSF) and foot-and mouth disease (FMD), which is reflected in the number of laboratories participating in messaging competencies for these diseases. 
For 2018-2020, a competency event was held twice a year for all diseases, and quarterly for IAV-A and FMD. Laboratories were required to participate in at least one competency for each disease they were approved to test for but could participate in more if they chose to do so.

In 2021, the competency schedule changed; only one event was held per disease during the year. Correspondingly, the number of messages submitted by laboratories decreased from 2020 (Figure 3). The percentage of error-free messages remained the same at 62% for both 2020 to 2021.
Evaluation of Messaging Competency Errors
For these competency events, laboratories had the option of providing a message sent to the NAHLN LMS ‘Production’ database, representing real data submitted within the past three months, or submitting a message to the LMS ‘Test’ environment. Messages sent to LMS ‘Test’ contained artificial data and are meant to evaluate message structure and content only.

The overall percentage of messages evaluated from the ‘Production’ environment has decreased over the last four years (Figure 4). The large number of messages sent to LMS ‘Test’ is a result of many laboratories not routinely receiving samples for testing for many of these diseases, thus having no testing data sent to VS in the three months prior to the competency. 
The types of errors identified for each year of messaging competencies has changed slightly over time (Table 1). This is likely because as one type of error is being corrected by participating laboratories, other errors are being more commonly identified.  
Looking closer at the top three most common errors found during FY21 messaging competencies, the spm.2/eip.1/ei.1 (field specimen ID) field is reserved for any identification that is applied to a sample by whomever collects the sample prior to sending it to a NAHLN laboratory. Most commonly errors in the message associated with this field were due to one of three reasons; 1) this field containing the animal ID instead of the specimen ID, 2) this field containing the identification applied to the sample by the laboratory once the sample arrives at their facility, or 3) a concatenation of the animal and sample IDs.

If the disease a laboratory is testing for is a foreign animal disease, an official state or federal regulatory investigation number must be assigned to the case. This number is transmitted within the HL7 message in the orc.4/ei.1 (FAD/referral number) field. Errors identified for this field during messaging competency events primarily were due to it being blank when it should have been populated with a FAD number, or the wrong information being sent in this field (for example a specimen ID or accession number). Occasionally the incorrect format for FAD numbers was also observed.

The HL7 message also contains an obr.31 (reason for testing) segment that indicates why the sample is being tested for a specific disease. Errors associated with obr.31 were primarily due to the message containing a reason for testing that was not listed in the corresponding messaging guide for that disease. For example, currently there are no active surveillance programs within VS for FMD. Therefore, samples being tested by a laboratory for FMD are generally assumed to be associated with a foreign animal disease investigation. FMD messages containing a Reason for Testing other than “F”, or foreign animal disease investigation, are usually considered to be an error. Occasionally, the field was blank or an inaccurate text description was observed.

Evaluation of Labs Without Errors
The next step was to assess if there were differences in error rate between messages sent to the LMS ‘Production’ and ‘Test’ environments. Since messages may be slightly different within the same laboratory depending if they are targeting the ‘Production’ or ‘Test’ environment, it is critical to confirm that the ‘Test’ messages adequately reflect data that would be sent to LMS ‘Production’ when needed.
As seen in Figure 5, the percentage of error free messages submitted to the LMS ‘Production’ site increased from 2018-2020 but decreased in 2021. ‘Test’ messages have seen an increase in the percentage of error-free messages from 2018 to 2019, remained at the same from 2019 to 2020, and then increased slightly in 2021.
 
In FY21 there were 15 labs which didn’t have any errors identified in the messaging competencies for the whole fiscal year. Taking a closer look at labs that had no errors or only one error over the past 3 years, there is an overall increase (Figure 6). Additionally, 17 of these labs have had zero to one error over multiple years.
Of these 17 labs, 8 labs only sent messages to LMS Test, 3 only to LMS Prod and a mixture for the rest of the labs. These labs use a variety of LIMS: VADDS, CoreOne, USALIMS, UVIS and custom. When these labs did have errors, they were similar to the common errors noted above with the addition of duplicate messages.
 
Summary and Conclusion

Overall, the initial goals of the messaging competencies have been met; namely checking and improving the overall quality of the data being provided to VS for all diseases laboratories are able to submit testing results for electronically. The types of errors are changing over time, which indicates that the messaging competency process is maturing, allowing for the most common errors to be fixed first, followed by the less common errors.

Next for VS and the NAHLN is to work towards implementing quality checks as messages are sent to the APHIS servers, providing a more automated and real-time review of quality for all messages.

Article submitted by Jennifer Rodriguez , Management and Program Analyst, NAHLN Program Office, USDA APHIS VS D & B, NVSL.
Laboratory Director Feature:
Dr. Gregory Juda
Laboratory Director, Montana Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (MVDL),
Bozeman, Montana
Dr. Juda graduated with a BS in Biochemistry from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and performed his graduate work at Montana State University (MSU), where he completed his Ph.D. in Biochemistry. His thesis focused on the cloning, expression, purification, and kinetic and spectroscopic characterization of a bacterial copper-containing enzyme.

Dr. Juda was looking for a career change that allowed his family to remain in Bozeman after spending over 13 years in the orthopedic medical device and tissue banking industry. When he saw the job posting for the Montana Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, he decided to find out more. After speaking with the State of Montana Veterinarian, Dr. Marty Zaluski, Dr. Juda knew he was interested in the challenge and the scope of the job and decided to jump at the opportunity. Dr. Juda has served as the Director of MVDL since April 2019.

Dr. Juda thinks one of the best features of NAHLN is the shared purpose and vision of the USDA and the member labs. The fact that all the labs are so willing to collaborate transparently is different from what he was used to in his previous industry. Dr. Juda stated, "It is refreshing that you can reach out to other laboratories or join a director's call and get answers to important questions or learn from others’ experiences."

Dr. Juda took a job out of grad school as a research and development scientist for a startup human tissue bank. During his time with the company, he was responsible for directing validation efforts for the company’s state-of-the-art allograft tissue processing facility, including the design and validation of programs for tissue processing and decontamination, facility cleaning and environmental monitoring, and packaging and sterilization of finished product. By the time Dr. Juda left the organization, he was the Chief Scientific Officer and General Manager of operations for the publicly traded company that was generating approximately $75 million in annual revenue. Dr. Juda stated, "It was an incredible experience to be instrumental in the growth and success of a startup company, however, it was also very stressful at times and I am glad that I have found a new home at the MVDL."

Dr. Juda grew up in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and moved to Bozeman in 1998 to attend graduate school at MSU. Dr. Juda met his wife, Cassidy, when she was doing a summer internship in the lab where he worked. He and his wife have an 8-year-old daughter (Taylor) and 4-year-old twins that are a girl and a boy (Skylar and Tyrus), which keeps them plenty busy at home.

Dr. Juda's family loves to go camping and enjoy everything they can do outdoors during the summer in Montana. They love to hike, bike, canoe, paddleboard, and kayak together as a family. Dr. Juda's hobbies include fishing, snowboarding, shooting, and ATV riding.

Article submitted by Traci Imlau, Program Assistant, NAHLN Program Office, USDA APHIS VS D & B, NVSL, Ames, IA.
ASF: The Foreign Experience
The USDA continues to work diligently to address the current African swine fever (ASF) situation in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, as well as APHIS’ ongoing efforts to protect the U.S. swine herd. In July, we confirmed ASF in eight samples from hogs in the Dominican Republic, near the border with Haiti. The samples were obtained and tested via an existing cooperative surveillance program.
We have been proactively testing samples from the Dominican Republic quarterly since 2019 as part of ongoing ASF surveillance in the Western Hemisphere. The Dominican Republic has since reported that 29 of its 32 provinces are affected with ASF. In September, Haiti reported a positive case of ASF. The sample was from a pig in a province bordering the Dominican Republic. We also tested this sample through a cooperative testing program. Haiti has reported four affected provinces or Departments since then.

USDA APHIS is working closely with the Dominican Republic and Haiti to assist them and address these outbreaks. Specifically, the Dominican Republic has requested our help with laboratory operations, epidemiology, and incident command. In August 2021, we deployed two employees to the Dominican Republic to set up a laboratory and provide training to increase the country’s testing capabilities. Since that time, we’ve also deployed lab personnel on continuous, 3-week rotations to support this laboratory. We’ve also provided reagents, supplies, and updated lab equipment. Our efforts have increased capacity, and the lab can now process 1,000 samples per day. In addition, we virtually deployed an incident coordination group and physically deployed three employees to assist with developing epidemiology and incident command strategies. Some employees also deployed to the Dominican Republic to develop a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and work plans, as well as to provide lab support.

In early December 2021, a group of APHIS leaders and program experts met with the Dominican Republic’s ASF team to develop a proposed operational plan and determine how the United States would further support the eradication effort. Once the MOU has been finalized, we’ll decide what role non-governmental organizations can play. We are also in the process of hiring for some 1 to 2-year term positions to provide additional support.

In Haiti, USDA APHIS is aiding diagnostic testing, including providing sampling supplies and transport for samples. In late September 2021, Secretary Vilsack announced the transfer of up to $500 million from the Commodity Credit Corporation to support our ASF activities in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. This funding also supports enhanced exclusion, surveillance, laboratory, and response preparations on the U.S. mainland, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Early detection is the key to controlling, containing, and eliminating ASF. Our goal is to prevent further spread of the virus and protect the health of the Nation’s swine herd and U.S. trade. The situation in the Dominican Republic and Haiti is obviously concerning due to their proximity to the United States. However, we have longstanding, interlocking safeguards in place to prevent ASF from entering the country. These include import restrictions, diagnostics, surveillance, and response strategies.
For example, pork and pork products from the Dominican Republic and Haiti are prohibited entry because of existing classical swine fever restrictions.

In December 2021, the United States declared that Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are a protection zone under the OIE, or World Organisation for Animal Health, Terrestrial Code. The protection zone includes additional surveillance and biosecurity safeguards to prevent ASF from entering the U.S. mainland. If ASF is detected in Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, the protection zone will help mitigate trade or economic impacts on the mainland.

The Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has also increased inspections of flights from the Dominican Republic to ensure travelers don’t bring prohibited products to the United States. And CBP is ensuring that garbage from planes is properly disposed of to prevent the transmission of ASF. Last August, we also issued a Federal Order that establishes additional requirements for dogs imported for resale or adoption from countries where ASF exists. On the trade front, we have started notifying trading partners and are working to confirm that they recognize and accept the protection zone. Their recognition will ensure the continued flow of U.S. pork and live swine exports from the U.S. mainland. We also issued a revised Federal Order in early December to allow, under specific conditions, the movement of certain swine products and byproducts from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to the mainland. Movements of live swine and swine germplasm continue to be suspended. And we have established processes for surveillance within the protection zone and a public education campaign related to on-farm biosecurity. ASF hasn’t been detected in Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, and we have increased surveillance for the disease there to ensure that, if it arrives there, we will detect it quickly.

An ASF confirmation in the mainland United States would trigger unified Federal, State, Tribal, and local emergency response plans.
USDA would likely implement a national 72-hour movement standstill requiring live swine and germplasm movements to stop during that time. Swine already in transit would be allowed to reach their destination, but new loads would not be allowed to move. The 72-hour timeframe would allow us to limit transmission until we can implement control measures, including establishing a control area around the infected premises. Processing plants would need to re-establish schedules for incoming loads. We would mitigate virus transmission by appropriately depopulating and disposing of infected swine.

We know that if we were to get ASF, it would have a dramatic impact on trade. While we hope to avoid ASF altogether, we have initiated bilateral conversations to limit potential trade disruptions. In March 2021, we signed a protocol with our counterparts in Canada to help ensure bilateral trade may continue if ASF is detected in feral swine in either country but is still absent from domestic swine. Canada has also provided official notification of its recognition of the U.S. protection zone for the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The intent is to minimize adverse trade impacts and resume trade as quickly as possible while protecting swine health in both countries. While trade would initially stop in the event of an ASF occurrence in feral swine on the U.S. mainland, the protocol outlines a three-phase approach to resume it using established criteria—with increasingly reduced restrictions on live swine, swine germplasm, and untreated swine commodities. We’re also preparing to apply the U.S.-Canada zoning arrangement to ASF in domestic swine. And we have completed an agreement with Canada to remove the “disease-free” statement from export certificates should an ASF detection occur in the continental United States. Canada has also agreed to a list of commodities that will be safe to trade in case of an ASF detection in either country. These include:

Processed pet food;
Heat-treated pet chews;
Processed meat products treated in accordance with OIE standards;
Cooked canned meat, gelatin, and collagen;
Certain other rendered or processed animal proteins; and,
Processed manure products.
USDA is also contacting other key trading partners to discuss new letterhead certificates and ensure continued market access for U.S. pork and pork products. We have developed a strategy to negotiate these changes with these trading partners, similar to the process we used with Canada. We plan to begin negotiations with top trading partners first—such as Mexico, China, Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.

Excellent biosecurity is foundational to our efforts to quickly resume trade and protect our markets. Poor biosecurity significantly increase the risk for infection. Good biosecurity will help to protected against disease introductions. It’s about preventing outbreaks before they begin. Waiting until disease strikes is not an option. Producers need to have strong biosecurity measures in place and follow them routinely. Producers are encouraged to work with an accredited veterinarian to assess your biosecurity plan or to elevate biosecurity protocols. It’s important to maintain strict records of visitor traffic—including personnel, vehicles, and equipment on farms and at all production facilities. Producers also need to screen visitors for travel to ASF-affected countries and prevent them from accessing the premises for at least 5 days after their return. It’s imperative that any mingling of feral and domestic swine is prevented, and that the industry addresses the truck washing/baking capacity gap. Trucks traveling from feed mills, other collection points, and multiple farms are a concern. Industry should require, at minimum, undercarriage and tire washing. Good biosecurity reduces the risk of people, animals, equipment, or vehicles spreading infectious diseases.

Those in the pork industry should also know the signs and symptoms of ASF. Affected pigs may have a high fever, loss of appetite, depression, reddened skin, vomiting, diarrhea, respiratory distress, or abortions. In the early stages, the signs of ASF are similar to other diseases, so laboratory testing is needed to differentiate ASF from others. If you suspect ASF in a pig or a herd, contact your local veterinarian. Suspected cases should be reported to State and Federal animal health officials, who will initiate a foreign animal disease investigation. It’s extremely important to report any potential hemorrhagic disease to State and Federal animal health officials as early as possible. Efforts from all stakeholders are needed to help prevent ASF from entering the mainland United States.
NAHLN Laboratory Response Planning
The NAHLN Laboratory Response Planning calls occur weekly on Friday. Participants include representatives from NAHLN laboratories as well as others from the state identified by NAHLN Laboratory Directors. Discussions will revolve around response issues including, but not limited to, supply chain and other potential bottlenecks, communications, reporting, etc. The discussion identifies gaps, drafts action items and potential solutions to pursue. If you are interested in joining these calls send an email to NAHLN@usda.gov .

Article submitted by Christina M. Loiacono, DVM, PhD, DACVP, Coordinator, NAHLN Program Office, USDA APHIS VS D & B, NVSL
SARS-CoV-2 update
As of February , we have confirmed 356 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infections in companion animals and animals under human care across 14 species. Wild white-tailed deer have been confirmed positive in 18 different states. Much of this is due to a project being run by USDA APHIS Wildlife Services. We are only reporting on the presence of confirmed infection in wildlife in states rather than the count of confirmed cases. Look for Wildlife Services to publish on their findings in the coming months.

Confirmed cases have been identified in all except 6 states; confirmed cases have been identified in Washington, DC and Puerto Rico. Most of the confirmed cases in companion animals and animals under human care have been in companion animals – 208/356 (58.4%) – but the proportion of cases in zoo and aquarium species is rising. Since October 1, 2021, 18 of the 115 cases (15.7%) have been in companion animals. Those 97 cases in animals in human care have come from 25 different facilities.

WHO named variants have been detected in animals dating back as far as January 2021. The variants found in animals reflect what was circulating in the human population, supporting that humans are the main reservoir of SARS-CoV-2 and the major source of exposure for animals. Between August 2021 and early January 2022, all confirmed cases in which a named variant was identified were infected with the Delta variant. In late January 2022, the Omicron variant was found for the first time in animals in the US.

A total of 17 mink farms have had confirmed infections detected. All 16 of those confirmed by PCR and sequencing were identified between August and November 2020; one farm was confirmed by serology in May 2021.

Thank you all for the collaboration on these investigations going on almost two years! Many of these cases, especially those in zoos and aquaria, came to our attention because they were first tested at a NAHLN lab. Keeping your state and federal partners in animal and human health in the loop helps every investigation go more smoothly. A few of the names have changed recently, so please check out these pages for the contact information for your State Animal Health Official and your State Public Health Veterinarian.

Link to APHIS’ public reporting dashboard of confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection


Article submitted by Stephen Rekant, Veterinary Medical Officer, MRP-APHIS-Strategy and Policy.
Round up: 


Coordinating Council
Beginning in 2022, the start date for new CC member appointment will move from June 1 to September 1. This change will allow better representation at each level designation.

 
Welcome to the new members of the Methods Technical Working Group
  • Dr. Karen Harmon, Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
  • Dr. Leyi Wang, Indiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Purdue University
  • Dr. Lijuan Zhou, Florida, Bronson Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory

Thank you to the member rotating off the Methods Technical Working Group
  • Dr. Stephanie Rossow, University of Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory


Article submitted by Traci Imlau, Program Assistant, NAHLN Program Office, USDA APHIS VS D & B, NVSL, Ames, IA.
Abbreviation / Acronym Key
 Click Here for Volume 13, No.1 Acronym Key
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NAHLN Facts

The following link show a map and laboratory list of laboratories that have been approved as part of the NAHLN Testing Network.