Progress and persistence of diseases of high consequence to livestock in the United States

Abstract

The USDA/ARS-National Disease Center (NADC) will celebrate its 65th anniversary of existence in November 2026. NADC continues as one of the world's premier animal health research centers conducting basic and applied research on endemic diseases with economic impact on U.S. livestock and wildlife. This research center also supports a program studying important food safety pathogens such as Salmonella, E. coli and Campylobacter. NADC has contributed significantly to the elimination of a few diseases, notably hog cholera and milk fever, and made progress in reducing the impact of many other animal diseases through vaccines, therapies and managerial recommendations. Despite nearly 65 years of targeted research on these diseases and much progress, some of these continue to persist. The reasons for such persistence varies for each disease condition and they are often multifactorial involving host susceptibility, virulence and even environmental conditions. Individually and in aggregate, these disease conditions have a massive economic impact and can be devasting to animal producers, owners and individuals that become infected through zoonotic disease agents such as tuberculosis, leptospirosis and avian influenza. They also diminish the health, well-being and welfare of affected animals, which directly affects the food supply. The NADC is using all available technologies including genomic, biochemical, reverse genetics, and vaccine trials in the target host to combat these significant diseases. We review the progress and reasons for persistence of selected diseases and food safety pathogens as well as the progress and potential outcomes should research and programmatic plans to eliminate these disease conditions cease.