The Arkansas Department of Health will be applying to respond to a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Prevention and Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases (ELC) Cooperative Agreement. This application is for the first year of the new, competitive 5-year CDC cooperative agreement with a performance period of August 1, 2024 – July 31, 2029. This application represents a one-year funding request but will set the baseline for the following application years. We have selected five cross-cutting emerging infectious disease components, five programs, and three projects to apply for, representing a total request of $7,970,463.35. Of these funds, $3,580,654 is for a project which serves as a placeholder for additional funds should an acute outbreak of an emerging disease present itself. As such, the maximum award we could receive outside of this placeholder would be $4,389,809.35. These funds request support for 41 positions and represent the agency's largest funding source for acute infectious disease work.