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“When we receive a call and determine it requires an ALIRT response, we can have a responder on site within four hours, anywhere in the state,” Cuneo says. “We can have diagnostic samples from the site to our diagnostic lab within 12 hours from anywhere in the state.”

Before ALIRT, in some cases it could take weeks, even months, if ever, to figure out the cause behind animal health emergencies that were determined not to be an FAD. With ALIRT, Cuneo says they either have the final answer or a firm idea within 12-24 hours of notification.

Hiller, now with the Hawaii Department of Agriculture, explains that historically, if the state vet's office got a call about a problem, “we couldn't do anything unless the history indicated it might be an FAD.

“Even if we conducted tests and they were negative, all we could tell the rancher is that we knew what it wasn't. With ALIRT, the funding and mechanism are there to help producers figure out the problem. In addition to providing more service to the producer, ALIRT has enabled the state to expand its ongoing disease surveillance across the state.”

New Mexico has already developed a mirror-image program to ALIRT. And representatives from other states, including some in Mexico, have attended ALIRT education programs; some are in the process of building a program.

“It's a lot cheaper to be prepared to deal with a problem when it arises. For relatively little money we greatly enhanced our response ability in Arizona,” Willer says. “It enhances the ability to safeguard our livestock, that's the bottom line.”

Editor's Note: Learn more at the ALIRT website.