Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:NAHLN funding to the AHDC is to enhance federal and state capabilities for early detection of high-impact livestock and poultry disease, ramp up testing capacity during outbreaks to support control and eradication efforts and maintain disease surveillance to confirm successful eradication and freedom from disease. The targeted audiences are all animal health regulatory state and federal agencies but in particular livestock and poultry industries, as well as all stakeholders in animal and public health. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project allows for advanced training of laboratory technical staff to be proficient to perform high complexity high throughput diagnostic testing according to the NAHLN standards and performance expectations. The AHDC has 17 medical technologists proficient for avian influenza as well as Newcastle disease testing; 14 medical technologists proficient for FMD testing; and, 15 medical technologists proficient for testing for African and classical swine fevers, under NAHLN SOPs. AHDC Bacteriology staff received training on the IR-biotyper instrument, funded by NAHLN, that will be used to evaluate phenotypic variations within bacterial species and prove useful in the detection of emerging bacterial pathogens in the context of the NAHLN AMR study. Five (5) AHDC staff attended the AAVLD Quality Symposium in Washington, DC; two (2) AHDC staff attended the AAVLD QMS Auditor Pool training in Las Vegas, NV; sixteen (16) AHDC staff participated in a virtual training course by A2LA WorkPlace Training (AWPT) on Understanding the ISO/IEC 17025:2017 for Testing & Calibration Laboratories; thirteen (13) AHDC staff participated in a virtual training course by AWPT on Auditing Your Lab to the ISO/IEC17025:2017 Standard; three (3) AHDC staff members attended the NAHLN / AAVLD Quality Management System (QMS) advanced and foundational training programs; four (4) AHDC staff members attended the AAVLD/NVSL Summer Diagnostic Symposium. The AHDC in addition has hosted staff from other institutions for training, notably AHDC Virology staff provided training on Next Generation Sequencing to a University of Connecticut Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory staff member. The AHDC furthermore hosted the first AAVLD/NVSL Summer Diagnostic Symposium, with roles on the symposium's program committee, logistics planning, speakers, tour leaders. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Officials and regulators of the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, and relevant units of APHIS Veterinary Services are informed about testing activities related to this program. All HPAI and FADi testing results are forwarded to State and federal agencies for regulatory action through all required channels. The AHDC extensively publishes and presents its findings in peer reviewed publications, presentations at scientific conferences and other venues. The AHDC furthermore helped organize and host the AAVLD/NVSL Summer Diagnostic Symposium that showcased NAHLN activities across all its member laboratories. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Throughout the year the AHDC maintained readiness for foreign animal disease response and high consequence disease testing, ensuring that laboratory technicians and medical technologists were trained and proficiency tested for all disease agents under the NAHLN contract scope. New York State had a first documented incursion of HPAI in February 2022, and was activated to assist in the New York State response, an outbreak that is still going on in domestic and wild birds, as well as wild mammals. The AHDC, using NAHLN testing protocols has tested thousands of birds from multiple sampling streams, including Foreign Animal Disease investigations and domestic poultry sick bird surveillance submissions, submissions within NPIP and from live bird markets, wild birds for the USDA Wildlife Services HPAI Wild Bird Surveillance program, and specimens submitted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), zoos and other bird collections, and submissions from veterinary practices. The AHDC, in addition has tested mammals from various species, mostly in submissions from the NYSDEC. Since late March of this year, HPAI has also been detected in dairy cows in herds across several states, and the AHDC has tested thousands of samples for herd dispersions, shows, interstate movement and other health monitoring mostly from NYS, but also from another 13 States. Note that the AHDC is also functioning as the HPAI testing laboratory for avian and dairy submissions for New England states. The AHDC, in addition, has completed testing for various vesicular Foreign Animal Disease investigation (FADi) submissions from New York State. The AHDC furthermore consulted with the network on SARS-CoV-2 testing in animals. The AHDC furthermore, when reducing and halting pandemic SARS-CoV-2 testing of human samples, has created a Core Infectious Disease Test Development Team directed by the directors of the Virology, Bacteriology, Parasitology and Molecular Diagnostics Laboratories of the AHDC, with a highly skilled team of research support specialists whose primary responsibility is to develop, optimize and validate new diagnostic assays or update current assays in support of the testing portfolio of AHDC infectious diseases laboratories. The team to date has greatly enhanced AHDC molecular (PCR-based and NGS based) as well as serologic assay capabilities. The AHDC Virology Laboratory furthermore collaborated with NVSL on evaluation of lateral flow assays for detection of HPAI in milk samples, and validation of a multispecies ELISA test for detection of Influenza A NP and HPAI H5 antibodies is currently ongoing. AHDC Virology Laboratory also validated a multiplex real time PCR to detect West Nile Virus (WNV) and Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus (EEEV) in a single tube format using multiple sample types from avian and equine species. Further NAHLN funding has been used to acquire essential equipment. The AHDC, in addition, has redeployed liquid handlers and equipment from its Cornell COVID-19 testing laboratory to increase high throughput high complexity testing capabilities and capacity. The AHDC furthermore has been identified as a key NAHLN facility to host a scientist as liaison for NAHLN - National Bio- and Agro-defense facility (NBAF) 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 and will focus on the development of next generation sequencing and improved molecular and serological assays for emerging, reemerging, and high-consequence infectious diseases of livestock, domestic, and wildlife species. AHDC participated at several levels of the investigation of a perceived canine infectious respiratory disease complex as a liaison NAHLN/NVSL laboratory, as well as with Cornell University provided project funding. Thirty (30) dogs who presented to veterinarians with a history of acute onset (within 7 days) respiratory signs were enrolled in a study, in which respiratory samples received at the AHDC were tested for all of common pathogens typically associated with canine infectious respiratory disease, as well as any unknown pathogens, using PCR, bacterial and fungal cultures, virus isolation, and exploratory sequencing techniques. We gathered follow-up information on each case from submitting veterinarians. We are now enrolling 15 control dogs who have presented to our anatomic pathology service for necropsy with no evidence of respiratory disease on gross and histologic examination. Veterinary Support Services (VSS) and Virology faculty designed a sampling and testing plan for diagnostic investigation of an outbreak of unknown etiology in dairy cattle in Texas. This included collection of paired samples (nasal swabs, blood, milk and feces from clinically affected animals). Testing included exploratory sequencing (metagenomics) and virus isolation. As a result of this investigation influenza A sequences were detected in a nasal swab from one affected cow, which was confirmed as H5N1 2.3.4.4b HPAI at AHDC Molecular diagnostics laboratory and at NVSL. Subsequent testing of milk samples led to finding high viral loads in milk. These results helped AHDC and NVSL to provide guidance on a diagnostic plan (sampling and methods) for further investigation of suspect HPAI cases in dairy cattle. AAVLD Full Accreditation through Dec 31, 2028; A2LA accredited under ISO17025:2017 of designated tests in the bacteriology, molecular diagnostics, serology and virology laboratories through September 30, 2025.

Publications