Georgia Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories: Update By Binu T. Velayudhan, Hemant K. Naikare, and Jesse M. Hostetter, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia

Georgia Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories: Update

By Binu T. Velayudhan, Hemant K. Naikare, and Jesse M. Hostetter, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia

As we prepare for the future, hopefully one that moves beyond the COVID pandemic, the Georgia Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories (GVDLs) in Athens and Tifton are exploring new and innovative ways to provide the highest-quality and most technologically advanced services to veterinarians and livestock producers. We are developing new strategies to meet the changing needs of animal agriculture, and we are incorporating new cuttingedge technologies to ensure accuracy of results while reducing turnaround time for our clients. The top priorities of the GVDLs are to support animal and public health, and to safeguard animal agriculture, the largest sector of Georgia’s agriculture industry. This update provides a brief overview of our services for cattle producers, details our support for our communities during the pandemic, and offers a glimpse at new advances that will enhance our support of animal and human health in Georgia. GVDL mission and support of the cattle industry: The GVDLs are both fully accredited veterinary diagnostic laboratories with a shared mission to serve the animal agriculture industry and animal owners through excellence in veterinary diagnostic services. Supporting Georgia’s cattle industry is a top priority of the GVDLs. Both labs offer diagnostic testing for a vast array of viral, bacterial, parasitic, protozoal and fungal diseases in cattle. The laboratories provide regulatory testing required for livestock transport, as well as pregnancy testing. The GVDLs offer surveillance testing for key diseases that impact production – including Bovine Viral Diarrhea, Anaplasmosis, Johne’s Disease, Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis Virus, and Brucellosis. In addition, the GVDLs perform diagnostic and surveillance testing for zoonotic diseases such as rabies, brucellosis and tuberculosis that affect cattle and threaten human health. The labs have developed diagnostic test panels that look for multiple infectious agents in a single sample. This decreases time and cost for making a diagnosis. This includes the bovine respiratory disease panel, the bovine abortion panel, and a bovine diarrhea panel. Additional tests have also been incorporated that include new PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) panel tests for small ruminant respiratory disease, Clostridium difficile toxin typing, and C. perfringens toxin typing. We have also added new testing for Brucella antibodies. Most of the submissions that we receive are from veterinarians. However, to facilitate diagnostic testing for effective herd management, cattle and small ruminant producers can directly submit ear notch samples to test for persistent BVD infection, serum samples for pregnancy testing, and Johne’s disease testing on stool and serum samples. Protection against new disease threats: The GVDLs maintain constant readiness to respond to diseases that are not presently on U.S. soil. If

one of these diseases, such as Foot-and-Mouth Disease, ever entered Georgia or the U.S., they would devastate the state’s and nation’s economy. Both Athens and Tifton laboratories have federal support for this mission and are part of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN). The NAHLN provides infrastructure support to ensure that laboratories can respond rapidly to an animal emergency. Moreover, the highly skilled technical staff in the GVDLs have special proficiency training to safely handle and process samples during an animal health emergency. The GVDLs regularly participate in drills and exercises to better prepare them for an outbreak situation. A recent example is an exercise conducted by state and federal partners with Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories in the Southeastern U.S. in Nov 2021 (FAD SAFE). This exercise was based on a scenario of a Foot-andMouth Disease outbreak in the Southeastern U.S. The Georgia cattle industry and the Georgia Cattlemen’s Association played a significant role in coordinating various activities as part of this exercise.

An actual animal emergency requiring GVDLs’ response occurred after the detection of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in backyard poultry. The GVDLs worked closely with the Georgia State Veterinarian’s Office and NAHLN to provide rapid PCR testing for suspect cases sent from the Georgia Department of Agriculture. This threat persists and, if needed, the GVDLs can provide large-scale testing for HPAI within 24 hours. If this emergency was Foot-and-Mouth Disease rather than HPAI, the GVDLs would be equally ready to respond.

Response to the COVID-19 pandemic: During the pandemic, the GVDLs remained open and fully operational. In addition, the Athens laboratory performed COVID-19 surveillance testing for the University of Georgia community, while the Tifton laboratory performed diagnostic testing for five rural hospitals and clinics serving more than 20 counties in South Georgia. Together, the two laboratories performed more than 135,000 COVID-19 tests on human samples to support Georgians through the crisis. Both laboratories also performed COVID-19 testing on animals including dogs, cats, gorillas, otters and lions. Currently, the Tifton laboratory is continuing COVID surveillance testing for companion animals and livestock in Georgia, which is funded through the CDC.

Capacity building and acquisition of cuttingedge diagnostic tools: Technological advances in diagnostic medicine are occurring at an amazing pace. This includes capacity to run large numbers of samples in a short time (high throughput) and testing for multiple disease markers simultaneously (multiplex). The GVDLs are actively working to incorporate new technologies, which will translate into lower cost and faster turnaround time to the client.

Many of our new diagnostic assays are in Molecular Diagnostics; this includes platforms such as PCR, genome sequencing, and mass spectrometry. Examples of new technology in the GVDLs include new instrumentation for rapid isolation of nucleic acid from a sample for PCR testing, robotics for automated and precise measuring and delivery of liquid samples into analyzers, and a new mass spectrometry instrument that can identify bacteria in a sample without the need for bacterial culture. These advances mean that results can get back to the client in less than 24 hours, compared to days or more than a week using prior methodologies. Further, this new technology significantly expands our testing capacity and makes initiation of large-scale testing possible with very little lead time. This is important should an animal or human health emergency occur where the expertise of the GVDLs is needed.