During June, the VDL performed 177,145 pseudo-rabies serology tests. In a typical June, the lab processes about 46,000 serology tests, in which blood serum is checked for antibodies to a specific disease. To handle the unprecedented volume of test submissions, Osweiler hired three new staff members to run tests and help manage the enormous number of mandated regulatory reports. Two new high-speed fax machines dispensed tens of thousands of test results from the VDL conference room, which was converted into a sort of command center during the height of the deluge. The diagnostic process begins in pathology, Osweiler said.
Pathology is the study of disease.
When something comes in, the pathologist looks at the history of the animal, decides what the problem might be and orders the relevant tests. The pathologist sends the appropriate samples to the different sections in the lab. In the toxicology section, testing for lead poisoning in cattle and dogs is fairly common, he said. It's simply testing blood samples from healthy animals to identify diseases the animal may have been exposed to or may be a carrier for. This is the preventive side of what we do.