# One Health; Epidemiology of natural and deliberate contaminants (infectious and toxicities) in animals and animal food

> **NIH FDA U18** · UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA · 2021 · $50,400

## Abstract

Project Summary
In the United States food destined for pet consumption is normally safe for both the pets and the people who
handle the food. The need for the cheap production of these food commodities and the fact that we live in a
more global society has changed the sources of the components of pet food. As a result, there have been
several occurrences of zoonotic infectious disease transmission and toxicities. Salmonella present in dog
treats and pet food has sickened people that handle them or were in contact with their pets while shedding
such bacteria. These outbreaks were due to contamination during processing, probably preventable, but
definitely not malicious. In some other instances, such as in the case of melamine toxicosis, the introduction
was deliberate in an effort to profit through the fraudulent substitution of an adulterant.
The University of Georgia, through its “One Health” initiative, is committed to promoting, training, and
conducting research in all areas of animal, human and environmental health. The College of Veterinary
Medicine and the State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory have a duty to the state and to its constituents to not
only perform diagnosis but also to monitor trends and report unusual disease presentations or patterns. Our
laboratory takes this responsibility very seriously, and over the years our faculty members have published
articles with such findings. Furthermore, we were the first laboratory to diagnose melamine toxicosis in dogs
due to contaminated components present in canned pet food. We were not only able to describe the outbreak
in the US, but also by working with our network of collaborators, link it to an outbreak in Korea. Moreover, the
PI has worked extensively in the study of the chicken gut micro-biome, including the distribution of
antimicrobial resistance, and the epidemiology of Salmonella in wildlife and the environment.
Our laboratory has expertise in the areas of pathology, bacteriology, parasitology, virology, serology, and
molecular biology, including high throughput platform testing. Our faculty and staff are highly qualified and are
devoted to animal and public health. Our commitment is evident in our participation in many programs at the
state and national levels. We are one of the core laboratories of the National Animal Health laboratory
Network (NAHLN) and participate in all NAHLN surveillance testing. In addition, we are have participated in
another cooperative agreement with the FDA assessing the presence of Salmonella in turkey-based pet treats
as well as engaging in an epidemiological study looking at the prevalence of Salmonella in dog and cat feces
(1U8FD004318-01) and the potential risk factors for Salmonella carriage. Furthermore, we are currently on the
last year of our first competitive renewal of the 1U18FD004623-01-infrastructure grant, for which here by we
are seeking renewal. We have been very responsive to all the requirements of this grant to date. Therefore,
At...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10189604
- **Project number:** 5U18FD006157-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
- **Principal Investigator:** SUSAN SANCHEZ
- **Activity code:** U18 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** FDA
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $50,400
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-08-01 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10189604

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10189604, One Health; Epidemiology of natural and deliberate contaminants (infectious and toxicities) in animals and animal food (5U18FD006157-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10189604. Licensed CC0.

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