Lab Sections

Lab Sections

The Ohio Animal Disease Diagnostic Lab is a full-service, all species animal disease diagnostic facility which provides diagnostic expertise to veterinarians for food animals, horses, small animals, and exotic species. The diagnostic lab also provides increasing support to Ohio's on-farm food safety programs. The laboratory offers >350 different diagnostic tests and completes >450,000 analyses per year. Services offered include avian diagnostics, bacteriology, BSL-3 capabilities, molecular diagnostics, pathology, serology, virology, and whole genome sequencing.

Avian

The Avian Diagnostics section protects and promotes avian and human health by providing expedient and reliable avian serology services to Ohio's commercial poultry producers, as well as waterfowl, ratite and backyard-exhibition poultry, companion and exotic bird owners.

The majority of the samples received in the Avian Diagnostics section are requests from Ohio commercial chicken and turkey breeder flocks for tests required by the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP). The remainder of the tests completed in this section is associated with either flock profiling programs designed to monitor disease exposure and vaccination response or regulatory testing required for interstate shipments, sales and exhibits.

Additional details, including fees and turnaround time, are available on our Tests and Fees page.

Last updated: 7/18/2018

Bacteriology

The Bacteriology section safeguards animal health, the food supply and public health by providing accurate, comprehensive, state-of-the-art, timely, and cost-effective diagnostic services for veterinarians, animal owners, and state and federal regulatory agencies for bacterial and mycotic diseases of livestock and poultry. The Bacteriology section also has a regulatory mission, providing diagnostic support for the National Poultry Improvement Program for control of salmonellosis and mycoplasmosis, trace-back investigations for Salmonella serotype Enteritidis and the trichomonosis control program.

Major services available through the Bacteriology section include the detection, isolation and identification of pathogenic bacteria and fungus from animal tissues, fluids, and environmental samples. Tests offered include aerobic, anaerobic and mycotic culture, Salmonella culture, Johnes culture, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, molecular diagnostics, disease investigation and surveillance, and research, education and outreach activities. The Bacteriology Section has investigated hundreds of cases for the Food and Drug Administration, Ohio Department of Health and pet food companies looking for the presence of Salmonella sp. in dog food.

The ADDL Bacteriology Section has one MALDI-TOF MS instrument for rapid identification of microorganisms:

Additional details, including fees and turnaround time, are available on our Tests and Fees page.

Last updated: 7/18/2018

Central Receiving

Molecular Diagnostics & Sequencing

The Molecular Diagnostics section offers PCR testing and DNA sequencing analysis for screening, diagnosis or confirmation of infectious agents. The laboratory uses high-throughput nucleic acid purification equipment and several real-time PCR platforms for rapid diagnosis and quick turnaround times. More than 41,000 PCR tests were performed in 2021 and the lab offers PCR for >80 gene targets in a variety of bacteria, parasite, and virus pathogens of animals. As a member of the USDA National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN), staff participate in national disease surveillance programs to screen animal populations for reportable diseases including African swine fever (ASFV), classical swine fever (CSFV), highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), exotic Newcastle disease (APMV-1), foot and mouth disease (FMDV), infectious salmon anemia (ISAV), and viral hemorrhagic semptemia (VHSV).

Same-day swine testing is available for porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV), transmissible gastroenteritis (TGEV), porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRS), swine influenza (IAV-S) and Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae.

The lab utilizes the Illumina MiSeq and iSeq platforms to perform next generation sequencing (NGS) for characterization and/or identification of pathogens. In 2019, the laboratory received ISO 17025 accreditation of its method for whole genome sequencing of bacterial pathogens. ADDL participates in several national whole genome sequencing (WGS) projects, including FDA GenomeTrakr, FDA Vet-LIRN, and USDA Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Project. We offer WGS to our clients for bacteria and influenza A virus, and Sanger sequencing for a variety of gene targets in bacteria and viruses.

Fees and turnaround times are available on our Tests and Fees page.

Last updated: 12/15/2022

Pathology

The Pathology Section provides necropsy examinations of domestic and wild mammals, birds including poultry, waterfowl, and pet birds, as well as fish, and occasional reptiles and amphibians. Necropsy examinations document morphologic lesions that are associated with disease as the Pathology Section endeavors to establish a definitive cause of illness and cause of death. Some cases involve forensic investigations to determine if abuse or neglect contributed to animals’ deaths. Necropsy examinations also may identify zoonotic infections and thus serve to protect public health, and also confirm the presence of new and emerging diseases in animals.

The Pathology Section provides comprehensive histopathology services for biopsies, formalin-fixed tissues collected and submitted by practitioners who have conducted their own necropsy examinations, as well as tissues collected by Section pathologists following necropsies conducted at the ADDL. This includes a wide range of special stains as needed to supplement routine histopathology, and an increasing number of immunohistochemistry assays to detect the presence of infectious agent antigens within microscopic lesions.

The Pathology Section, as an approved laboratory in the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) provides immunohistochemistry testing to detect the prion associated with chronic wasting disease (CWD) in captive and wild cervids, as well as with scrapie in sheep and goats.

Additional services provided include cytology examinations of smears and fine needle aspirates as well as fecal examinations (centrifugation, flotation and quantitative).

The Pathology Section staff includes four pathologists, one whom is a board certified diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists, with cumulative veterinary diagnostic laboratory and necropsy experience surpassing 90 years’ experience.

Additional details, including fees and turnaround time, are available on our Tests and Fees page.

Last updated: 6/14/2019

Serology

Services:

Anaplasmosis(marginale/centrale/ovis) - cELISA
Bluetongue Virus - AGID, cELISA
Bovine Leukosis Virus - ELISA
Brucella abortus/suis - BAPA, CARD, CF, FPA, SPT, STT
Brucella canis - Tube Agglutination
Coxiella burnetii (Q Fever) - CF
Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease Virus - AGID
Equine Infectious Anemia Virus - AGID, ELISA
Leptospira spp. (pomona, icterohaemorrhagiae, canicola, hardjoprajitno, grippotyphosa, bratislava, sejroe & autumnalis) - MAT
Mycobacterium paratuberculosis (Johnes) - ELISA (serum & milk), CF
Small Ruminant Lentivirus (CAE/OPP) - cELISA

Additional details, including fees and turnaround time, are available on our Tests and Fees page.

Last updated: 2/16/2021

Toxicology

The Ohio ADDL provides access to toxicology expertise through an ABVT toxicologist available for consultation, analytical test recommendation and interpretation. Analysis of samples either submitted or acquired through necropsy by staff in the Pathology Section are then shipped to the Indiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory for chemical analysis, or other AAVLD-accredited laboratories including California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory, the Chemistry Section of the Diagnostic Laboratory at Iowa State University (ISU), Toxicology section at Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, Toxicology section at the Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, University of Missouri or The Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health at Michigan State University. This approach has been used for years and allows an extensive range of analytical tests to be available for individual cases. Note that specific laboratory fees and associated shipping charges are case related charges.

Additional details, including fees and turnaround time, are available on our Tests and Fees page.

Last updated: 6/25/2021

Virology

The Virology section provides high quality diagnostic services to practicing veterinarians, researchers and industry. Major services provided by the Virology section include detection and identification of viruses and viral antigens and/or antibodies from animal tissues, serum, body fluids, and feces. An average of 46,000 diagnostic virology tests per year has been performed since 2010. Virus isolation, fluorescent antibody staining, electron microscopy and aquaculture are standard methods used at ADDL to detect viruses. Virus neutralization, agar gel immunodiffusion, ELISA and hemagglutination inhibition assays are also performed by the Virology section.