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New Iowa animal diagnostics lab proposed

Livestock groups and veterinarians in Iowa are pushing for a new animal diagnostics lab to be located near the ISU College of Veterinary Medicine in Ames.

Extension swine veterinarian Dr. Chris Rademacher says the current laboratory built in the mid-70’s is outdated and no longer able to keep up with the caseload, which has more than doubled in the last six years.

He says a new facility is needed before the next big wave of an animal or poultry disease strikes the state.

“The recent outbreak with PED and high path avian influenza really taxed our ability to effectively serve the livestock producers for the state of Iowa,” Rademacher says. “So we’re to the point, before we hit another critical disease, that we need to look at asking for funding to build a stand-alone diagnostics lab—separate from the College of Veterinary Medicine—in order to protect any bio-safety, bio-containment or bio-security concerns that may be going on.”

He says construction costs for a new facility could exceed 100 million dollars and they hope to raise an initial five million dollars this year to begin the planning process.

The ISU swine veterinarian spoke at a regional pork conference in Le Mars, Iowa.

Dennis Morrice, KLEM, Le Mars, IA contributed to this story.

AUDIO: Dr. Chris Rademacher

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