National Animal Health Laboratory Network

Output 1: Diagnostics - The Cornell Animal Health Diagnostic Center (AHDC) will continue to provide testing for Avian Influenza, Exotic Newcastle Disease, BSE and Classical Swine Fever. In addition, as new NAHLN-sanctioned assays are rolled out, such as FMD, the AHDC will bring those on-line according to the prescribed protocols and time lines. NAHLN testing will be provided not only for New York but other states in the northeast and the rest of the US as needed. The AHDC will also provide reserve testing capacity for other NAHLN laboratories in the event of an emergency. <P> Output 2: Training and Education - The AHDC will continue to support Foreign Animal Disease training for pathologists and other veterinarians in the laboratory. Appropriate faculty and staff will receive training and maintain proficiency certification for all NAHLN-approved testing. The AHDC will also initiate a new Diagnostic Sciences Residency Program to train post-DVM students in diagnostic sciences, including NAHLN testing. <P> Output 3: IT and Data Management - The AHDC will continue to support a developer/programmer position in the Veterinary Medical Information Technology department to initiate full-time electronic messaging of NAHLN test results as soon as the USDA provides the data infrastructure to receive and store the data. The AHDC will also participate in the development and implementation of the HL7 test order message as well as all other applicable NAHLN IT development. The AHDC will develop and implement ad hoc query tools and associated reports to facilitate retrieval and analysis of test data. This effort has already begun with the installation of the Oracle Hyperion Business Intelligence suite of tools and the creation of data models to support standardized data retrieval and reporting.