Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with North Atlantic Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

these diseases can often create devastating effects on economies at multiple scales.  AI is a transboundary disease that can have particularly overwhelming impacts, as demonstrated by the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak in 2014–2015, which cost US taxpayers $950 million dollars, with an overall economic impact estimated at $3.3 billion.  The current 2022-2023 outbreak of HPAI virus H5N1 is likely to have a greater economic impact, given its longevity.  Additionally, low pathogenic AI outbreaks in poultry facilities occur annually with associated economic effects, and transmission of novel viral types from poultry to wild birds has negatively impacted wild populations. Therefore, preventing and reducing the impacts of transboundary diseases is of critical importance from an ecological and societal perspective.