John C. Simms, VMD, MS Many livestock producers and their veterinarians have used the Pennsylvania Laboratory System in the past, but the new millennium has shed light on a brand new building, new personnel, and a new system. The Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic Laboratory is comprised of three locations that are all under the same system. The Pennsylvania Veterinary Laboratory in Harris burg (also known as Summerdale Lab, State Vet Lab, or State Diagnostic Lab) is the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s portion of a three-part lab system. The Pennsylvania State University Laboratory and the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center laboratory comprise the other two-thirds of the present system. Each location performs many routine laboratory proce dures, but each also has a particular number of specialities that they perform for the other labs in the system. For exam ple, Penn State’s laboratory specializes in virus isolation. New Bolton laboratory has a toxicology headquarters. And the Pennsylvania Veterinary Laboratory in Harrisburg house many of the regulatory tests, such as Brucellosis and C°Bgins. All a producer or veterinarian has to do is submit a sample or specimen to any of the three labs, and they will m ake sure it gets to the best location for that particular test. A courier system will even pick up samples at a veterinari an’s office free of charge to make sure that deliveries are •uade as quickly as possible. (Regulatory samples are ex cluded.) Veterinarians will soon or should have already re vived an updated version of the user’s guide with new Procedures and fees. Increased personnel add to the efficiency and expertise of |h® system. At the Pennsylvania Veterinary Laboratory in Harrisburg, which is four years old, Dr. Graham Purchase is References The Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic Laboratory System the resident director and has instituted many of the changes mentioned above. Dr. Helen Acland is primarily an equine pathologist, which is a specialty area lacking for many years in Harrisburg. Dr. Deepanker Tewari is the new chief of mi crobiology, while Dr. Barbara Corson is in charge of client services. Corson can provide information on test availability and progress of test results. Bricks and mortar have been added to the remodeling and updating of Penn State’s laboratory. The newly remodeled facility will enable PADLS to more efficiently meet the demands of the Pennsylvania animal agriculture industry. Program support is also supplied by the laboratory system to help meet the need for increased testing. The new Johne’s 30-free sample program has caused a five-fold in crease in the Johne’s samples tested last year. Another ex ample is the huge increase in Avian Influenza tests during the recent outbreak in Pennsylvania. The PADLS laboratory system is something that Pennsyl vania producers and veterinarians can appreciate. It is ac credited and utilized by veterinarians and producers who will keep it in the state-of-the-art status that it enjoys today. To contact one of the Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic Laboratory System laboratories, please use the phone num bers below: PADLS-Harrisburg (PADLS-PVL) PADLS-Penn State (PADLS-PSU) PADLS-New Bolton Center (PADLS-NBC) Phone; 610-444-5800, ext. 2211 Phone: 717-787-8808 Phone: 814-863-0837
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