RESPIRATORY DISEASES CONTINUE TO BE A MAJOR CONCERN TO POULTRY PRODUCERS BECAUSE LOSSES INDUCED BY RESPIRATORY DISEASES HAVE SIGNIFICANT LOCAL AND NATIONAL ECONOMIC IMPACT TO THE INDUSTRY. PROTECTION OF POULTRY BY EFFECTIVE PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF DISEASES IS CRITICAL TO MAINTAIN WHOLESOME POULTRY PRODUCTS, WHICH IS THE NUMBER ONE ANIMAL PROTEIN CONSUMED IN THE U.S. SUCH EFFORTS MAKE A SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS NATIONAL FOOD SECURITY. OUR GOAL IS TO DEVELOP KNOWLEDGE-BASED INTEGRATED APPROACHES TO DETECT, CONTROL AND PREVENT ENDEMIC, EMERGING AND RE-EMERGING POULTRY RESPIRATORY DISEASES IN THE U.S. IN THIS PROJECT, THE EFFORTS OF MULTIPLE INSTITUTIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY WILL CONCENTRATE ON THE FOLLOWING FOUR SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES: 1) UNDERSTAND THE ECOLOGY OF POULTRY RESPIRATORY DISEASES; 2) INVESTIGATE THE MULTIFACTORIAL ETIOLOGY INVOLVING POULTRY RESPIRATORY DISEASES; 3) DEVELOP NEW AND IMPROVED DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS, VACCINES, AND NOVEL PREVENTIVE MEASURES; AND4) EDUCATE STAKEHOLDERS FOR PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF RESPIRATORY DISEASES.