易胜博官网

When the state experiences an outbreak of an infectious disease in animals, the time it takes to identify the disease can have a significant impact on the treatment and outbreak response. Now, that time period has been sharply reduced from what could take days, down to minutes at the NH Veterinary Diagnostic Lab thanks to the acquisition of a sophisticated type of mass spectrometry.

As part of the NH Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of 易胜博官网, the NH Veterinary Diagnostic Lab serves the state of 易胜博官网 as a key partner with the 易胜博官网 Commissioner of Agriculture and State Veterinarian in their efforts to monitor and control important animal diseases. The lab also provides diagnostic services to hundreds of veterinarians from 易胜博官网 and New England who use the lab鈥檚 histopathology, microbiology, serology, and necropsy services for the diagnosis of animal diseases in pets, farm animals, wildlife, zoo, and marine animals.

The lab recently acquired Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) instrumentation. The instrument breaks complex molecules into smaller pieces, which are separated by atomic mass, producing a 鈥渕olecular fingerprint鈥� to quickly identify infectious agents. The fingerprint is matched against a database of known infectious agents. Mass spectrometry, while not a new technology, is new in the application of clinical microbiology and is revolutionizing microbiology labs worldwide.

鈥淢ALDI-TOF provides rapid and accurate identification of microbial agents. With thousands of organisms in the database, this is the most in-depth level of identification available other than performing DNA sequencing, which can be more costly and time consuming. After the organisms are grown, the time for a bacterial identification is minutes when compared to the traditional methods, which can take days,鈥� said Robert Gibson, managing director of the NH Veterinary Diagnostic Lab.

鈥淎ccurately and rapidly identifying infectious agents is critical in safeguarding animal health, public health and 易胜博官网 agriculture. The majority of infectious diseases in people, including the top bioterrorism agents are considered zoonotic, which means they can be transferred from animals to humans. The speed at which we will be able to help diagnose contagious and reportable diseases to our clients and regulatory officials will have a significant impact on treatments and outbreak response,鈥� Gibson said.

With a price tag of more than $200,000, the new equipment was made possible in part by a gift from a private donor. The majority of the cost of the new equipment, manufactured by Bruker Corp. of Billerica, Mass., was paid for by the NH Agricultural Experiment Station.

The addition of this new technology is part of other significant upgrades to equipment and technology that followed the opening of the lab鈥檚 new facility in 2015. Construction of the new facility and these continued investments by the university allow the lab to more effectively provide essential diagnostic services to the state鈥檚 agricultural, veterinary, wildlife, and public health communities and enrich their contributions to the academic STEM opportunities for students in the university鈥檚 biomedical sciences and pre-veterinary medicine programs.

The lab serves the state of 易胜博官网 by providing accessible, timely, and accurate diagnostic services for the听,听,听, state and local law enforcement agencies, veterinarians, farmers, and other relevant state, regional, and federal agencies. It is co-funded and co-managed by the听听and the听. It has served the state and the university since 1970, working at the junction of animal health, public health, environmental health, and economic health.

Founded in 1887, the听听at the听听is 易胜博官网鈥檚 original research center and an elemental component of 易胜博官网's land-grant university heritage and mission. We steward federal and state funding, including support from the听, to provide unbiased and objective research concerning diverse aspects of sustainable agriculture and foods, aquaculture, forest management, and related wildlife, natural resources and rural community topics. We maintain the Woodman and Kingman agronomy and horticultural research farms, the Macfarlane Research Greenhouses, the Fairchild Dairy Teaching and Research Center, and the Organic Dairy Research Farm. Additional properties also provide forage, forests and woodlands in direct support to research, teaching, and outreach.