Safeguarding Health
West Nile virus. Anthrax. Rabies. Scours. They're all in a
day's work for the NDSU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.
That's where the region's livestock producers and veterinarians look for help
when they have health concerns related to their livestock.
Don Safratovich, a veterinarian at the Hettinger
Veterinary Clinic, consults with the NDSU Veterinary Diagnostic
Laboratory about three times a week. "They do an excellent job for
us," he says. The drought in southern North Dakota has watering holes and
dugouts at low levels with water of questionable quality.
"We've
sent a lot of water samples to the diagnostic lab this summer. We
get a good turnaround from them so we can get results back out
to ranchers."
"That's our job," explains Neil Dyer, director of the
laboratory. "Everything from a bump off a dog to a blood sample to a
whole cow may come in the door." Recent work has included water
and feed samples, and samples from zoo animals, companion
animals and livestock. Cases related to cow-calf production,
however, predominate.
For the past five years, the laboratory has seen about
10,000 cases a year. Most come from veterinarians around the region.
Along with water tests, specialists check for vomitoxin in
scab-infected grain, high levels of nitrate that can accumulate in
plants during drought conditions and mold-produced toxins from
stored feeds. They detect the toxins and make recommendations for
how to best use the contaminated feeds.
"Our laboratory has established a reputation for
high-quality work in toxicology. We're able to give our livestock producers a
few more options for dealing with those kinds of
problems," Dyer says.
The emergence of the West Nile virus in North Dakota added
to the laboratory's work. "We were thinking it might be possible
for it to reach North Dakota this year. We sent some of our staff to
training in conducting the serum test for horses, and we purchased
the materials to do the tests," Dyer says. The laboratory diagnosed
more than 98 percent of the horses confirmed with the disease in
North Dakota.
NDSU Extension Service agents and specialists also work
closely with the laboratory to share information and alert the public
to livestock and human health risks. Agents have provided public
education on the West Nile virus. "They worked with media to create
an awareness of the disease, what it is and what it could
do," explains Gerald Sturn, extension district director for southwestern
North Dakota. The agents also collected dead birds and sent them to
the North Dakota Department of Health for testing.
The lab works closely with the health department because
the number of infected animals is reflective of the risk to humans.
That's similar to other diseases like rabies or anthrax with which the
laboratory commonly deals. That relationship is likely to get closer.
"Sept. 11 of last year changed everything: from how we
handle samples to plans for responding to a bioterrorism
threat," Dyer says. Plans call for the laboratory to serve as an overflow facility for
the Department of Health in the event of a large-scale public
health emergency. The laboratory also plans to upgrade some of its
facilities to deal with organisms that are more virulent and dangerous
to humans. "Those activities won't be a big part of our effort, but
it improves our ability to serve the state," Dyer says.
The laboratory also benefits from and contributes to
NDSU's academic programs. Dyer and some of the other five faculty
members in the laboratory teach classes. "Having the student
population here forces you to do a better job of staying current. We have
other faculty members to collaborate with, and we benefit from the
research that goes on," he says. "Students benefit because we
use real-world cases in class. They're not always dealing with
theory, but actual cases and tissues that we've seen in the lab."
That mutually beneficial relationship will be particularly
evident in the doctoral program in molecular pathogenesis offered
by NDSU for the first time in the spring of 2003. The program will
give students background in studying the most basic biological
functions and structures of bacteria, viruses and other pathogens
that threaten animal health and food safety.
For more information: Neil Dyer, 701-231-7521, neil.dyer@ndsu.nodak.edu
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