They cost the United States more than $100 billion each year. They have the power to disrupt our food supply, endanger agricultural production, and obliterate our most valuable natural resources. They could even put people’s lives at risk. And many are so tiny we can’t even see them.

Invasive species and emerging pathogens — from deadly viruses to destructive insects to resilient plant diseases — are a problem of national proportion. That’s why OARDC has put special emphasis on proactively responding to diseases and pests threatening Ohio and beyond by conducting unique research projects that tackle threats such as soybean rust, emerald ash borer (EAB), and avian influenza.

Since soybean rust was first discovered in the United States, OARDC and OSU Extension have established sentinel plots to monitor for the disease and looked for the most effective ways to apply fungicides. Soybean rust is an aggressive leaf fungus that can impact yields if left untreated or not treated properly. Rust hasn’t been found in Ohio, but experts agree that rust-resistant soybean varieties are the key to controlling this disease. That’s why OARDC plant pathologists and breeders have joined a nationwide effort to identify varieties that may exhibit resistant characteristics.

Another devastating invader is emerald ash borer, an insect from Asia that destroys native North American ashes and could potentially obliterate one in every 10 trees in Ohio. OARDC entomologist Dan Herms — a national expert on the tree-killing beetle that has been found in more than 20 Ohio counties since 2003 — leads a team whose goal is to identify EAB resistance mechanisms present in Asian ashes to facilitate selection and/or breeding of resistant trees for reforestation purposes in Ohio and other affected states.

Perhaps the most worrisome exotic organism today, avian influenza has captured international attention due to its ability to jump from birds into people and the fear it might spark the world’s next pandemic. In Ohio, OARDC virologists are looking for answers to two key pieces in the bird flu puzzle — what makes flu viruses capable of jumping from one species to another, and how to create a vaccine powerful enough, yet safe, to protect poultry against the disease and prevent further spread.

The second piece of the puzzle is what drives the work of avian influenza expert Chang-Won Lee. His lab is developing a live influenza vaccine that would give animals a more cross-protective and longer-lasting immunity compared to currently available vaccines — a less effective and more costly option for producers as the vaccine must be administered by intramuscular injection, one bird at a time.

“Live-virus vaccines can be developed faster to respond to emerging virus strains and can be administered via aerosol for faster, cheaper, and more effective control,” Lee said. “And the knowledge we gain in developing these vaccines for poultry can be applied to creating better vaccines for humans, too.”

The economic impact of OARDC’s efforts to fight invasive species and emerging pathogens could be enormous — soybean rust could cost Ohio growers $270 million, a fifth of the crop’s annual value, even if it only caused a 20 percent yield loss; emerald ash borer can potentially cost citizens and the state of Ohio more than $3 billion in the next 10 years; and an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza could drastically hurt Ohio’s $3.8 billion poultry industry.