Grant to boost state animal health efforts

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A $50,000 federal grant should help improve Missouri's animal health emergency plans, the state Agriculture Department said.

The grant announced Tuesday will go to equipment and supplies for A Livestock Emergency Response Transportable System, or ALERTS, a mobile unit that will allow the department to respond immediately to disease emergencies.

The money also will be used to train state and private vets in the diagnosis of foreign animal diseases and emergency management.

The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which is providing nearly $2 million to 32 states to bolster emergency animal health efforts.

The goal of the grant program is to help states meet animal disease response standards set by a steering committee of the National Animal Health Emergency Management System, composed of federal, state and local governments as well as other organizations.