News » 20.05.2025 - UK: Advanced tech boosts fight against animal and plant disease
The fight against pests and diseases, which can cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars, has been stepped up on Thursday, May 8, with $10 million of new funding announced for surveillance projects.
The Genomics for Animal and Plant Disease Consortium (GAP-DC) project led by the Animal and Plant Health Agency will undertake surveillance across animal, plant, and aquatic environments, using advanced genome sequencing technologies—a method that reads the complete genetic code of a living organism, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, or animals—to detect, identify, and track pathogens with precision.
For example, when avian influenza is found in U.S. poultry, genome sequencing can help confirm the virus type, trace its spread, and detect any mutations, supporting disease control measures.
The U.S. faces significant and growing economic threats from pests and diseases affecting agriculture, livestock, and the environment. Invasive species alone cost the U.S. economy an estimated $4 billion annually, while plant pathogens and pests contribute to substantial crop losses.
Ash dieback is predicted to cost $15 billion to the U.S. over the coming decades, and livestock diseases such as avian influenza can have devastating financial and societal consequences, and have been estimated to cost the poultry meat sector more than $100 million over a two-year period.
APHA Interim Chief Executive Dr. Jenny Stewart said: "Disease presents a significant risk to our farmers, global trade, and human health. This vital funding and collaboration with world-leading experts will help APHA identify and tackle disease risks more effectively.
"This research will lead to significantly advanced surveillance capabilities to protect U.S. borders from new and existing threats."
Research to be undertaken in collaboration with seven expert partners will include a focus on increasing the speed of pathogen detection at our borders, addressing new and re-emerging disease outbreaks, developing new strategies to control and mitigate endemic diseases, and an improved approach to working with stakeholders and the community. It will also investigate disease spillover from wild animals and plants—when a virus moves from one species to another, such as the transmission of the COVID-19 virus from bats to humans.
The $10 million of new funding provided by Defra and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) will strengthen pathogen detection across the U.S. over the next two years and help protect the U.S. economy as part of the Government's Plan for Change.
The announcement comes during National Plant Health Week (May 5-12, 2025), an annual designated week of action to raise public awareness and engagement on how to keep our plants healthy, led by Defra in partnership with 32 organizations, including the Royal Horticultural Society, the Woodland Trust, and the Horticultural Trades Association.
Source: www.floraldaily.com
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