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Public outreach and educational site (former Asianlonghornedbeetle.com site).

APHIS offers the Defend the Flock education program to provide the tools and resources you need to make sure that you are doing everything possible to keep your birds healthy and reduce the risk that an infectious disease will spread from your property to other flocks. Biosecurity is the key to keeping our Nation’s poultry healthy!

The Defend the Flock program provides information and resources from USDA and other experts for keeping poultry healthy. It includes practical tips from growers like you, veterinarians, state agencies, scientists, and industry professionals for practicing biosecurity every day. Biosecurity is a team effort. We have to work together to defend our nation’s flocks. Resources include information needed to practice good biosecurity is available here -- checklists, resource guides, videos, and other tools.

In response to the increasing damage and disease threats posed by expanding feral swine populations in the U.S. , Congress appropriated funds to APHIS in 2014 to create a collaborative National Feral Swine Damage Management Program. Congress continues to allocate funds annually to support the program. The program’s overarching goal is to protect agricultural and natural resources, property, animal health, and human health and safety by managing feral swine damage. APHIS collaborates with many stakeholders—including States, Tribes, other Federal agencies, universities, and the public—to accomplish this goal.
See related resource: Squeal on Pigs!

When it comes to preventing the spread of invasive pests, every one of us can play a big role. By doing the right things we can all help stop this threat to so much that we value. Please do your part and learn what you can do to "leave Hungry Pests behind."

Effective November 16, 2021, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) established a Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly) quarantine area in San Bernardino and Los Angeles Counties, California. APHIS is applying safeguarding measures and restrictions on the interstate movement or entry into foreign trade of regulated articles from this area. This action is in response to the CDFA’s confirmation of a mature, unmated female Medfly on October 25, and a subsequently confirmed male Medfly on November 9 from Jackson traps placed in backyard citrus trees in residential areas of Upland, California. There are 15.75 acres of commercial agricultural production in the quarantine area. Currently, the quarantine area encompasses 95 square miles.

Effective immediately, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), in cooperation with the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD), is expanding the quarantine for the box tree moth (BTM, Cydalima perspectalis) to include all of Clinton, Eaton, Ingham, Jackson, Livingston, Monroe, Oakland, and Wayne Counties in Michigan.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is announcing the implementation of Phase VII of the Lacey Act provisions. APHIS is finalizing the associated declaration requirement required by Congress for plant and wood products. In this phase, declarations will be required for all remaining plant product Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) codes that are not 100-percent composite materials. Implementation of Phase VII will begin December 1, 2024.

If an importer imports items that contain plant products, but do not currently file a Lacey Act declaration, they likely will need to file under Phase VII. Phase VII includes the broadest range of items, items as varied as industrial or medicinal plants, handbags, plywood, laminated wood, tools, matches with natural wood stems, products of natural cork, products of bamboo and rattan, footwear and more. Plant and wood products included in past phases include timber, some furniture, essential oils, wood cases and trunks, and woodwind instruments and their parts and accessories.
See also: Lacey Act Phase VII Implementation: Frequently Asked Questions and Plant Protection Today: Lacey Act Phase VII Is Coming (Apr 27, 2023)

Effective immediately, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is modifying the conditions under which citrus fruit may be moved interstate from areas quarantined for sweet orange scab (SOS) when destined for processing or packing in a commercial citrus-producing state without a state-wide SOS quarantine.

APHIS created the webpage to make it easier for its customers to find critical information on pests and diseases of concern. With this tool, members of the public will have the information they need to report pests and diseases and together we can protect America’s agriculture and natural resources. This page lists all pest and disease programs managed by APHISas part of its mission to protect American agriculture and natural resources. Users can search by type (plant, animal), keyword (avian, fruit fly, cotton), or by the specific pest or disease (coconut rhinoceros beetle, brucellosis). You can also scroll through the page, which lists the pests and diseases alphabetically and includes a corresponding image.

USDA's Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) continuously takes steps to enhance our ability to exclude, control, and eradicate pests and increase the safety of agricultural trade. Across the country, PPQ worked with the States and other partners to detect, contain, and when possible, eradicate invading pests. On the world stage, PPQ worked closely with our international trading partners to develop and promote science-based standards, helping to create a safe, fair, and predictable agricultural trade system that minimizes the spread of invasive plant pests and diseases. Learn about the many successes and accomplishments captured in the 2018 report (APHIS 81-05-021) and how PPQ is working every day to keep U.S. agriculture healthy and profitable.

The Aquatic eDNAtlas Project supports effective conservation and management of freshwater biota. Rocky Mountain Research Station scientists have been at the forefront of investigating and applying eDNA sampling for aquatic species.

The eDNAtlas allows land managers, scientists, and the public to access results from samples collected from aquatic systems throughout the U.S. The eDNAtlas database contains results from thousands of sites.

The Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force News and Announcements is produced weekly to share information with the Invasive Species Community. The weekly newsletters include announcements, event schedules, career and funding opportunities as well as recent publications and news stories related to aquatic invasive species.

The ArboNET disease maps have been retired. To locate current and historical data for arboviral diseases, please visit the disease webpage of interest.

Areawide Pest Management (AWPM) is the systematic reduction of a target pest(s) to predetermined levels using uniformly applied pest mitigation measures over geographical areas clearly defined by biologically-based criteria (e.g., pest colonization, dispersal potential). This storymap provides the following: Background, Current Projects, Success Stories, and Data Exploration. The program has six active projects on crops, insects, invasive plants, and agronomic weeds spread across the US. These updates provide a brief summary, current status and projections along with photos and graphs.
Note: Success Stories include The Ecological Areawide Management (TEAM) of Leafy Spurge, Invasive Annual Grasses (cheatgrass medusahead),  Fruit Flies (Mediterranean fruit fly, melon fly, Oriental fruit fly, and Malaysian fruit fly).

Quagga and zebra mussels have spread rapidly across the country since they were first discovered in the late 1980s and, according to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials, have spread to every major river basin in the U.S. except the Columbia River Basin in the northwest. The mussels typically are spread by recreational watercraft such as boats, canoes, and Jet Skis that have been in infested waters. Once established in a water body, the mussel species are extremely difficult to eradicate because they have no natural predators in the U.S. and rapidly reproduce.

GAO was asked to examine efforts the Corps has undertaken to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species into the Columbia River Basin by recreational watercrafts. This report [PDF, 3.24 MB] provides information on the Corps' Watercraft Inspection and Decontamination Program and its role in helping to prevent the introduction or spread of quagga and zebra mussels—the aquatic invasive species of greatest concern to the Corps—as well as program challenges and opportunities for improvement.

The ARS Annual Report on Science highlights ARS’s impact on the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe. Every year, ARS discovers real-world solutions to agricultural challenges affecting our nation and a growing world.Research highlights includes insect pests, plant diseases, animal health detection, protecting pollinator health and other related invasive species topics.
See also: Annual Report on Science Archives (from FY2016)

May/Jun 2012 - Vol. 60, No. 5

See also: Protecting Our Pollinators (AgLab) to learn more how USDA supports the critical role pollinators play in agriculture through research and data collections, diagnostic services and pollinator health monitoring, pollinator habitat enhancement programs, and pollinator health grants.