** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** EMERGENT VIRUSES THAT CAUSE EPIDEMICS AND ARE OFTEN AT FIRST NOT DETECTED BY ROUTINE VETERINARY OR HUMAN DIAGNOSTICS. IT IS ONLY AFTER THESE VIRUSES CAUSE MUCH DISEASE THAT THEY ARE DISCOVERED, CHARACTERIZED, AND COMMERCIAL TESTS ARE DEVELOPED TO DETECT THEM.ONE GROUP OF VIRUSES THAT IS PARTICULARLY LIKELY TO CHANGE AND CAUSE EPIDEMICS IS THE CORONAVIRUS FAMILY. THESE VIRUSES HAVE CAUSED MULTIPLE SEVERE EPIDEMICS IN HUMANS AND LIVESTOCK. CORONAVIRUSES INCLUDE THE SARS-COV-2 VIRUS WHICH CAUSES COVID-19. CORONAVIRUSES OFTEN MOVE BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN DIFFERENT SPECIES. WHEN THEY DO SO, THEY OFTEN FURTHER CHANGE. SOMETIMES THESE CHANGES CAUSE SEVERE DISEASE IN THE NEW ANIMAL HOST AND SOMETIMES THEY CHANGE AND CAN CAUSE NEW TYPES OF DISEASE IF THEY RETURN TO THEIR ORIGINAL HOST. OFTEN THE CHANGES IN CORONAVIRUSES THAT LEAD TO EPIDEMICS TAKE DOZENS OF YEARS TO OCCUR BUT IF WE CAN DETECT SUCH NEW CORONAVIRUSES EARLY, WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO STOP THEIR SPREAD.TODAY THERE ARE NO COMMERCIALLABORATORY TESTS TO DETECT SUCH NEW CORONAVIRUSES. OUR LABORATORY DIAGNOSTICS ARE FINELY TUNED TO PICK UP ONLY THE PREVIOUSLY WELL-STUDIED CORONAVIRUSES. WE HAVE DEVELOPED A TEST THAT PICKS NEARLY 100% OF ALL CORONAVIRUSES, BOTH PREVIOUSLY RECOGNIZED AND NEWLY GENERATED. WE HAVE RECENTLY USED IT TO DETECT A NOVEL CANINE-LIKE CORONAVIRUS THAT IS CAUSING HUMAN RESPIRATORY ILLNESS IN BOTH MALAYSIA AND HAITI.IN THIS STUDY WE WILL USE THIS PAN-SPECIES CORONAVIRUS LABORATORY TEST TO STUDY OVER 5 YEARS, 16 TEXAS LIVESTOCK FARMS (PIGS, CATTLE, OR POULTRY) FOR ALL CORONAVIRUSES. A BIOTECH COMPANY, GENECAPTURE, INC., WILL ALSO DEVELOP AND TEST A HAND-HELD INSTRUMENT WHICH USES A SIMILAR APPROACH BUT MAY BE USED BY FARM WORKERS ON THE FARM.IN THE STUDY OF THE 16 FARMS, QUESTIONNAIRE DATA AND SAMPLES WILL BE COLLECTED EVERY FOUR MONTHS FOR ONE YEAR FROM EACH FARM'S ENVIRONMENT, THE FARM LIVESTOCK AND THE LIVESTOCK WORKERS. IN BETWEEN THE FOUR FARM VISITS TO EACH FARM, WE WILL USE POSTAGE-PAIDSAMPLE KITS TO COLLECT AND SHIP NASAL/ORAL SWABS FROM LIVESTOCK OR LIVESTOCK WORKERS WITH SIGNS OF RESPIRATORY ILLNESS TO OUR UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MEDICAL BRANCH LABORATORY. WE WILL INTENSIVELY STUDY THE VIRUSES WE DETECT WITH ADVANCED LABORATORY TECHNIQUES AND COMPARE THEM TO OTHER VIRUSES TO DETERMINE WHICH VIRUSES ARE MOST LIKELY TO CAUSE FUTURE EPIDEMICS IN ANIMAL OR HUMANS. UNUSUAL VIRUSES WILL BE SHARED WITH THE USDA FOR FURTHER ASSESSMENT. NO INDIVIDUAL FARM OR FARM WORKER WILL BE IDENTIFIED.OVERALL, THIS STUDY AIMS TO DEVELOP EFFECTIVE AND COST-EFFICIENT METHODS FOR THE RAPID DETECTION OF CORONAVIRUSES LIKE THAT CAUSING COVID-19 ON LIVESTOCK FARMS. ADDITIONALLY, THIS PROJECT WILL OFFER PRACTICAL VIROLOGY TRAINING TO UP TO 40 MINORITY UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS THAT IS LIKELY TO HELP THEM GAIN SCIENTIFIC JOB OPPORTUNITIES. THE PROGRAM WILL BE MANAGED BY DR. ALEX PENICHE OF GALVESTON COLLEGE WHO WILL RECRUIT AND MANAGE INTERNSHIP TRAINING OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS FROM THE HONORS PROG,RAM AT GALVESTON COLLEGE, A MINORITY-SERVING 2-YEAR DEGREE INSTITUTION. EACH SEMESTER, UP TO 4 UNDERGRADUATES FROM BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY OR LIFE SCIENCE MAJORS WILL BE SELECTED TO WORK UP TO 10 HRS PER WEEK (FOR A SEMESTER) AS PAID VIROLOGY INTERNS IN THE UTMB ONE HEALTH LABORATORY. INTERNS WILL RECEIVE INSTRUCTION TRAINING IN LABORATORY BASIC BIOSAFETY, CHEMICAL SAFETY, INSTITUTIONAL ANIMAL CARE AND USE TRAINING, HUMAN SUBJECTS RESEARCH TRAINING, AND BIOMEDICAL RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT OF RESEARCH TRAINING. THEY WILL RECEIVE HANDS-ON TRAINING IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, INCLUDING: REAL-TIME AND CONVENTIONAL PCR AND RT-PCR, GEL ELECTROPHORESIS, CELL CULTURE, AND SANGER SEQUENCING TECHNIQUES UNDER CLOSE SUPERVISION BY OUR TEAM OF VIRAL LABORATORY PROFESSIONALS.DETECTING NEW CORONAVIRUSES ON FARMS AT LOW COST IS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE TO US AGRICULTURE BIOSECURITY, TO INTERNATIONAL FOOD SECURITY, IN PROTECTING THE HEALTH OF LIVESTOCK AND ANIMAL WORKERS, AS WELL IN PROTECTING THE LIVESTOCK INDUSTRIES' BUSINESS MODELS. DEMONSTRATING THAT OUR CORONAVIRUS SURVEILLANCE APPROACH IS EFFECTIVE AND OF RELATIVELY LOW COST, COULD INFLUENCE THE ADOPTION OF THIS SURVEILLANCE APPROACH THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.