The mission of the National Veterinary 

Services Laboratories (NVSL), a unit 

within the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service (APHIS), is to safeguard U.S. animal health and contribute 

to public health by providing timely and 

accurate diagnostic laboratory support 

directly or through a national laboratory system that includes the National 

Animal Health Laboratory Network 

(NAHLN). 

The NAHLN is a partnership between 

USDA-APHIS, the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), and 

the American Association of Veterinary 

Laboratory Diagnosticians (AAVLD). The 

network consists of a group of Stateand university-funded veterinary 

diagnostic laboratories that work with 

animal diseases, including those that are 

endemic, exotic, zoonotic, or emerging. 

NVSL coordinates NAHLN activities, 

participates in methods validation, and 

provides training, proficiency testing, 

assistance, materials, and protocols for 

diagnostic tests. 

Quality Diagnostic Services 

At the very core of the NVSL mission is 

customer-based service as a veterinary 

diagnostic laboratory. NVSL scientists 

and support personnel perform diagnostic tests on nearly a quarter 

million samples each year. 

NVSL offers nearly 500 specific diagnostic tests covering everything from 

basic screening tests for the importation of horses (equine infectious 

anemia testing) to elephant trunk wash 

cultures to detect tuberculosis. NVSL 

also provides diagnostic support to foreign animal disease investigations both 

at Ames, IA, and at the Foreign Animal 

Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (FADDL) 

located on Plum Island, NY. Further, 

NVSL offers over 500 reagents, many of 

which are not available from any other 

source. The NAHLN laboratories play a 

key role by performing initial screening 

tests for several foreign animal diseases. 

ISO/IEC1 17025 is the international 

standard for testing and calibration 

laboratories. In order to demonstrate 

confidence in quality, NVSL has attained

ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation for 

approximately 379 of nearly 500 tests 

(as of 2014). New tests are added to 

NVSL’s accreditation scope annually.

Based on FY 2013 test data, the NVSL 

met its goals with over 97 percent of 

results reported under accredited tests 

and over 82 percent of test methods 

accredited. NVSL was the first laboratory 

in the world to be accredited to ISO/IEC

17025 standards by the American 

Association for Laboratory Accreditation 

(A2LA) accrediting body. As of FY 2013, 

NVSL has 25 reference materials and 7 

proficiency tests accredited.

National 

Veterinary 

Services 

Laboratories

Contact Information

USDA-APHIS-VS-NVSL

1920 Dayton Ave. (for packages)

P.O. Box 844 (for letters)

Ames, IA 50010

Phone: (515) 337-7266

Fax: (515) 337-7397 

USDA-APHIS-VS-NVSL-FADDL

40550 Route 25 (for packages)

Orient Point, NY 11957

P.O. Box 848 (for letters)

Greenport, NY 11944-0848

Phone: (631) 323-3256

Fax: (631) 323-3366

NVSL Testing Statistics, 2011–2013 

Fiscal 

Year

Accessions* 

Received

Tests 

Conducted

Samples 

Tested

2011 > 66,000 > 531,000 > 211,000

2012 > 52,000 > 475,000 > 193,000

2013 > 47,000 > 375,000** > 197,000

* Requests for testing from a single entity

** Methods by which conducted tests are counted was changed starting in FY 2013.

1 International Organization for Standardization (ISO)/

International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)

USDA, James Fosse

USDA, James Fosse

Plum Island

United States 

Department of 

Agriculture

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
A Center of Expertise

NVSL serves as a reference laboratory—

a center of expertise and guidance on 

diagnostic techniques—both nationally 

and internationally. NVSL is the reference laboratory for USDA Veterinary 

Services “program diseases” (i.e., those 

designated as necessary to bring under 

control or eradicate from the United 

States). NVSL also provides reference 

assistance to other U.S. and international veterinary diagnostic laboratories 

as requested. 

In addition, NVSL is a World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) reference 

laboratory for 15 diseases, including: 

avian influenza; anthrax; bluetongue; 

contagious equine metritis; eastern, 

western, and Venezuelan encephalomyelitis; equine infectious anemia; 

foot-and-mouth disease; leptospirosis; 

Newcastle disease; pseudorabies; swine 

influenza; vesicular stomatitis; and 

West Nile encephalitis. The Food and 

Agriculture Organization of the United 

Nations (FAO) has designated NVSL as 

a Reference Centre for foot-and-mouth 

disease and other vesicular diseases of 

the Americas and the Caribbean, animal 

influenza and Newcastle disease, and 

bovine tuberculosis and paratuberculosis. 

Collaboration and Training 

NVSL collaborates with and provides 

scientific advice to other Federal and 

State government agencies that are 

also developing new tests and technologies. In addition, NVSL partners with 

other reference laboratories around the 

world and works with other countries 

to obtain diagnostic specimens from 

naturally infected animals. These collaborative efforts result in enhanced 

expertise at NVSL and extensive reference collections that are available for 

test development and validation.

Training for State and Federal field 

veterinarians to detect foreign animal 

diseases and training for laboratory 

diagnosticians are critical functions of 

NVSL. In FY 2013, NVSL provided technical training to over 95 participants 

in 14 different events. Courses were 

provided in the following areas:

• Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA) 

(offered seven times) 

• Johne’s Isolation and Identification

(offered twice)

• Virus Isolation

• Avian Influenza (AI) and Newcastle 

Disease (ND)

• Complement Fixation Serology 

Testing

• Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

In addition, NVSL hosted several international trainees and visitors at its facilities 

in Ames, IA, and Plum Island, NY. For a 

current list of available training, download a copy of NVSL’s course catalog at 

www.aphis.usda.gov/NVSLTraining.

NVSL also offers customized training (as 

resources allow) to meet specific needs. 

National Centers for Animal Health

The National Centers for Animal Health 

(NCAH) is a diagnostics, biologics regulation, and research center in which 

NVSL, USDA’s Center for Veterinary 

Biologics, and the USDA Agricultural 

Research Service’s (ARS) National 

Animal Disease Center are co-located, 

each with unique and complementary 

missions for animal health. The NCAH 

contains both biosafety level (BSL)-2 

and BSL-3 laboratory space, as well 

as animal facilities and administrative 

space. NCAH employs a diverse staff 

of professionals to provide the laboratories with support services essential to 

their success.

Program Aid No. 2099

Issued September 2011

Slightly revised February 2014

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and 

employer.

NVSL Web site:

www.aphis.usda.gov/nvsl

NAHLN Web site:

www.aphis.usda.gov/nahln

U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 

Kathleen Apicelli