State agriculture officials say additional funding is a must to ensure animal health networks adequately prevent disease and protect public health

At the 2022 Winter Policy Conference of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture members amended their policy to support ample funding for animal health networks such as the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) to help sustain operational levels needed for laboratory costs and high-consequence disease surveillance and response.  

“If an emerging and economically devastating animal disease, such as African swine fever, had an outbreak that overlapped with the COVID-19 pandemic and resulted in further complicating supply chain issues, currently available resources for these animal health laboratories would be spread incredibly thin,” NASDA CEO Ted McKinney said. “We must proactively plan for the needs of these facilities, so they have the capability to respond to the health needs of the public and protect our nation’s food system.”