NAHLN LEVEL 1 LAB – MAINTAINING AND FURTHER IMPROVING CAPACITY AND CAPABILITIES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI VETERINARY MEDICAL DIAGNOSTIC LABORATORY

Non Technical Summary
The University of Misosuri Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (VMDL) is a level 1 member of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN). The VMDL is committed to fulfilling the responsibilities with NAHLN and supporting NAHLN mission of protecting animal health, public health, and food security. Currently, the VMDL is approved to test the following agents: African Swine Fever, Classical Swine Fever, Avian Influenza, Newcastle Disease, Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), Foot-and-Mouth Disease, Pseudorabies, and Swine Influenza. The VMDL is also approved to conduct ASF/CSF surveillance, wild bird HAPI surveillance, and NAHLN antimicrobial resistance surveillance. The goal of this project is to support NAHLN mission and protect Missouri's livestock and poultry via early detection and reporting diseases and conditions under the NAHLN scope. The specific objectives of this project are to 1) meet all responsibilities of a Level 1 laboratory as outlined in the 2024 Agreement for Participation in NAHLN as a Level 1 Laboratory and 2) increase VMDL's capabilities and capacity in addressing an adverse animal health event with the ability to electronically message test results. The proposed project is critically important to NAHLN mission aimed at protecting US animal health and food security. The project is particularly important to Missouri given that the state is ranked third nationally for beef cows, seventh for hog, and seventh for turkey production. Additionally, Missouri has approximately 1.4 million deer and 500,000 hunters who harvest more than 300,000 deer annually.