National designation positions Tollett Veterinary Diagnostic Lab to aid state’s animal disease response
The certification comes as the poultry industry in Arkansas is dealing with highly pathogenic avian influenza, known as HPAI. In 2020, the poultry industry was the state’s top commodity in terms of cash receipts at more than $2.6 billion.
By Mary Hightower
U of A System Division of Agriculture
Nov. 17, 2022
Fast facts
- Fayetteville lab is 60th member of national network
- Lab can help speed disease response
(442 words)
(Newsrooms: with file art of lab)
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s Tollett Veterinary Diagnostic Lab is better positioned to help the state’s poultry industry now that it’s been added to the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, or NAHLN, as a branch to the Arkansas Department of Agriculture’s Veterinary Diagnostic Lab.
The Tollett lab — now the 60th in the national network — has been operated by the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station for 14 years, offering diagnostics for poultry and mammals.
“Being certified by NAHLN is a complex and rigorous process,” Nathan Slaton, assistant director of the experiment station, said. “The lab must maintain a required amount of instrumentation and staff must pass certification to do the testing.”
The certification comes as the poultry industry in Arkansas is dealing with highly pathogenic avian influenza, known as HPAI. In 2020, the poultry industry was the state’s top commodity in terms of cash receipts at more than $2.6 billion.
“Because a large portion of our poultry production occurs in northwest Arkansas, adding the Fayetteville lab to the department’s NAHLN certification for HPAI testing will greatly enhance our state’s animal disease response capabilities,” said Wes Ward, Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture.
Laboratory Director Randy Moore, DVM, said “being an approved NAHLN member will allow our lab to assist with incidences of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the future. It also allows for our lab to participate in official surveillance and disease suspect testing.”
Moore’s lab is one of several USDA National Poultry Improvement Plan Labs that are authorized to perform avian influenza serology surveillance testing.
“Blood serum testing is useful for surveillance testing, but PCR testing is a much more useful tool for the early detection of animal diseases, which is essential in limiting the spread of disease during an outbreak,” he said. PCR, or polymerase chain reaction, is a technique that enables researchers to amplify genetic sequences to speed identification of a pathogen.
“Moving forward, we are now equipped to assist with the early detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza, and also to assist with state and federal response during an outbreak,” Moore said.
“NAHLN certification of the Tollett Lab will improve the Division of Agriculture’s ability to serve the poultry industry in Arkansas and throughout the region,” said Jean-François Meullenet, director of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station. “We appreciate this opportunity to collaborate with the VDL.”
The two Arkansas veterinary laboratories will maintain independent administrative and financial status but will share a formal quality management system administered by the Arkansas Department of Agriculture’s VDL in Little Rock.
The Tollett lab is just one of the varied diagnostic services offered through the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension
Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division
of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture,
visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.
The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
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Media contact: Mary Hightower, mhightower@uada.edu