Laboratories/Testing Issues

As of May 11, 2004, USDA has certified 12 state laboratories to perform BSE testing. See http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/news/2004/05/bselabs_vs.html for more information. Seven of these have the equipment needed for “high throughput,” or automated, testing, and therefore will be performing a majority of the tests. The other five will run tests manually on an as-needed basis, mainly performing tests in areas with lower sampling rates, or areas not well-served by the seven “high throughput” labs. Locations for the high throughput labs are:   California Animal Health and Food Safety Lab System, University of California-Davis; Colorado State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory; Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (College Station); Wisconsin Animal Health Laboratory (Madison); Washington State University Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory; Athens Diagnostic Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia; and New York State College of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, Cornell University. Other labs assisting in the surveillance program include: Kissimmee Diagnostic Laboratory, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Kissimmee, Fla.; Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, University of Minnesota (St. Paul); Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, Kansas State University (Manhattan); U.S. Department of Agriculture Laboratory, Frankfort, Ky.; and Pennsylvania Veterinary Laboratory, Harrisburg, Pa.

• Designated lab locations for each state can be viewed at following link:

— http://www.bseinfo.org/BSEINFO.ORG%20Designated%20Laboratories%20for%20BSE%20Sample%20Submission.doc  

• Similarly, USDA has approved the use of five rapid tests. See the following link: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/issues/bse/bse_rapidtest_faq.html for more information about rapid tests. Currently, all labs are using an approved rapid test made by Bio-Rad Laboratories.   Tests from the following companies have also been approved: Prionics AG, Idexx Laboratories and Abbott Laboratories.

• Samples presented to laboratories but not tested for various reasons (e.g. spoilage, spillage, breakage, etc.) will be noted as “not tested” on the report that will be sent back to the submitting facility.