Mission
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Mission
The mission of the USDA, ARS Foreign Animal Disease Research Unit (FADRU) is to develop strategies for the prevention and control of foreign animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV), vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), and classical swine fever (CSF) outbreaks in North America.
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), an exotic disease of livestock is the number one foreign animal disease (FAD) threat to the United States. Its introduction would have grave economic consequences not only for U.S. livestock producers, but also for many industries such as travel, food retail and tourism. The recent FMD outbreak in the United Kingdom cost tens of billions of dollars. Vesicular stomatitis is a disease that sporadically occurs in the U.S. and can be easily confused with FMD with resultant quarantines and economic consequences until FMD is ruled out. Classical swine fever is a highly infectious disease of swine with high morbidity and mortality rates in infected herds. Recent CSF outbreaks in Europe and the Caribbean illustrate the outgoing threat to the U.S. pork industry and export markets.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Mission
The mission of the DHS, Office of Research and Development unit at PIADC is to address research and development gaps specifically targeted to strengthen the nation's ability to anticipate, prevent, respond to, and recover from the intentional or unintentional introduction of a high consequence foreign animal disease.
Specific DHS program areas include:
- accelerated development of vaccine and biological countermeasures to FMD and other high consequence foreign animal diseases
- develop diagnostic and detection tools for high priority foreign animal disease and high consequence zoonotic diseases and demonstrate field capability
- develop disease risk, bioforensic threat assessment and characterization, and epidemiology capabilities.
The mission is carried out in close collaboration with USDA-ARS and USDA-APHIS scientists at PIADC as well as through coordination of activities and links with DHS University Centers of Excellence on Foreign Animal Diseases.
Senior scientific staff
ARS Research staff
- Dr. William T. Golde, Ph.D., immunology
- Dr. Douglas Gregg DVM, Ph.D., pathology
- Dr. Marvin J. Grubman. Ph.D. biochemistry
- Dr. Elizabeth Rieder, Ph.D. molecular biology
- Dr. Luis L. Rodriguez DVM, Ph.D., animal virology (Unit Leader)
In addition eight research support scientists, four postdoctoral fellows and four visiting scientists make up the unit research team.
DHS Research Staff
The staff comprises 15 scientists that conduct studies in vaccine and biological countermeasures and bioforensics as well as provide core services in DNA sequencing and electron microscopy.
Facilities
The Center has research facilities in multiple BL3 laboratories including shared equipment with confocal and electron microscopes, nucleic acid sequencing, real-time PCR and wide-ranging laboratory support facilities.
The Center also has extensive animal facilities for both large and small animals. In addition, there is a devoted DHS BL2 laboratory for vaccine development and small-scale production and a DHS BL3 laboratory for bioforensics.
Current Research
ARS Research
Research is focused on basic and applied problems in FMD and VSV and CSF, including efforts at developing faster-acting and more broadly cross-reactive vaccines and antivirals. This work includes understanding immunity to infection, virus evolution, pathogenesis, and disease spread to help predict and control outbreaks of these diseases, if they were to occur in North America.
Vaccine research is oriented toward development of vaccines that can be produced safely in the U.S. under existing federal laws, and companion diagnostic techniques that can differentiate between vaccinated and infected animals, can identify carrier animals, and can be used safely on farms. Initiatives to develop safer vaccines include recombinant subunit vaccines and newer candidate vaccines based on infectious clone technology. Fundamental research on viral replication, viral particle assembly and release, virus/cell receptor interaction, the infectious process, and the basic host cellular immune response to various stages of infection are required to develop practical methods for vaccination, antiviral treatment, diagnosis and other novel approaches to FMD control strategies. Among the novel approaches for FMD control, unit scientists are exploring the use of non-specific therapy with cytokines (e.g. interferons) and compounds which interfere with specific events in the viral replication cycle.
Research is organized in three USDA, ARS funded research projects (CRIS projects). Activities in all projects revolve around four main areas:
- genomics, epidemiology and rapid diagnosis
- molecular mechanisms of viral replication
- virus-host interaction and immune response
- vaccine and antiviral development
Information on research projects and technical contacts
Current DHS Programs
The vaccine and biological countermeasure development program currently encompasses several projects that will deliver novel, next generation FMD vaccines to the animal health private sector for full development, licensure, and placement in the North American Vaccine Bank. Activities are conducted under GLP/GCP guidelines in close partnership with ARS PIADC scientists and external collaborators in academia and the private sector. The main thrust of the bioforensics program is to carry out and develop epidemiology, disease risk and threat assessment activities through links with the NBACC National Bioforensics Analysis Center.