** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** COMMINGLING EVENTS OCCUR WHEN UNFAMILIAR ANIMALS OR PEOPLE COME TOGETHER IN A DEFINED SPACE AND TIME WITH INTENSIVE AND SUSTAINED CONTACT. COMMINGLING EVENTS CAN BE ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED VIRUS ACTIVITY, WITHPOSSIBLE GLOBAL CONSEQUENCES, AS THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS HIGHLIGHTED. COMMINGLING EVENTS IN HUMANS INCLUDE MASS-GATHERING EVENTS, BACK-TO-SCHOOL, AIR TRAVEL, INCARCERATION,AND MASS MIGRATION. IN LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION, COMMINGLING ROUTINELY OCCURS IN BEEF FINISHING SYSTEMS AND MAY OCCUR ON A NATIONAL LEVEL WHEN FARMERS REBUILD HERDS FOLLOWING DEPOPULATION EVENTS, SUCH AS THE RECENT FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE OUTBREAKS IN THE U.K. COMMINGLING EVENTS ARE VERY COMPLEX, WITH MULTIPLE STRESSORS. THESE STRESSORS CAN ALTER THE BODY'S ABILITY TO FIGHT DISEASE, AT THE SAME TIME THAT THE BODY IS BEING EXPOSED TO MORE PATHOGENS. TO UNDERSTAND WHY SOME PEOPLE/ANIMALS GET INFECTED AND/ SICK WITH VIRUSES DURING COMMINGLING EVENTS (WHILE OTHERS DO NOT), WE PROPOSE TO USE CATTLE AND A CATTLE-TYPE CORONAVIRUS TO TRACK HOW THE VIRUS TRANSMITS BETWEEN CATTLE THAT ARE BEING COMMINGLED. WE WILL MEASURE THE CATTLE'S IMMUNE SYSTEMS AND THE MICROBES THAT INHABIT THEIR BODY TO UNDERSTAND WHETHER DIFFERENCES HAVE AN IMPACT ON WHETHER CATTLE GET THE VIRUS OR NOT; AND WHETHER THEY GET SICK OR NOT. BY ANALYZING THESE DATA IN SPECIFIC WAYS, WE HOPE TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE BEHAVIOR OF VIRUSES DURING COMMINGLING EVENTS, WHICH COULD HELP US TO CONTROL AND PREVENT VIRUS TRANSMISSION IN BOTH ANIMALS AND PEOPLE.