Penn Vet’s Working Dog Center Receives USDA Grant to Combat New World Screwworm
The Working Dog Center at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet WDC) has received a two-year $404,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that will develop a canine-based surveillance capability for locating the soil-stage New World screwworm (NWS). The grant, awarded through the USDA’s NWS Grand Challenge program, is an element of the NWS Domestic Readiness and Response Initiative. Because working directly with NWS is highly regulated, researchers will use a screwworm proxy species to evaluate how effectively detection dogs can locate the target odor while the pests are in their underground stage. The team will use in-lab olfactometer testing and field trials to measure search accuracy, time-to-detection, and effective buried target detection range.
NWS is a serious pest that affects livestock, pets, wildlife, and, less commonly, people. As of June 22nd, 16 cases of NWS have been confirmed in Texas in goats, cattle, and sheep, as well as one dog in New Mexico. NWS larvae feed on the living tissue of warm-blooded animals. NWS was eradicated from the United States in 1966, and a small outbreak in the Florida Keys was eliminated in 2017. There was a resurgence of NWS in Panama beginning in 2023, spreading northward into the United States.
Renowned for its research and training in canine scent detection, the Penn Vet Working Dog Center has demonstrated dogs’ ability to identify distinct odor signatures associated with diseases, invasive species, and other biological targets, including hemangiosarcoma, chronic wasting disease, ovarian cancer, spotted lanternflies, and COVID-19.
The study titled “Detection Dogs as a Surveillance Tool for Locating Soil-Stage New World Screwworm Using Proxy Calliphoridae Species” was one of 40 projects out of a total of 226 submissions to receive funding through the USDA’s NWS Grand Challenge. Projects were selected based on their potential to significantly accelerate the prevention and response to NWS.
Penn Vet’s Cynthia “Cindy” Otto and Clara Wilson, and Texas Tech’s Chad L. Cross, will serve as co-PIs on the study.
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About Penn Vet
Ranked among the top ten veterinary schools worldwide, the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet) is a global leader in veterinary education, research, and clinical care. Founded in 1884, Penn Vet is the first veterinary school developed in association with a medical school. The school is a proud member of the One Health initiative, linking human, animal, and environmental health.
Penn Vet serves a diverse population of animals at its two campuses, which include extensive diagnostic and research laboratories. Ryan Hospital in Philadelphia provides care for dogs, cats, and other domestic/companion animals, handling more than 30,000 patient visits a year. New Bolton Center, Penn Vet’s large-animal hospital on nearly 700 acres in rural Kennett Square, PA, cares for horses and livestock/farm animals. The hospital handles more than 6,300 patient visits a year, while our Field Services have gone out on more than 5,500 farm service calls, treating some 22,400 patients at local farms. In addition, New Bolton Center’s campus includes a swine center, working dairy, and poultry unit that provide valuable research for the agriculture industry.