AHL achieves successful AAVLD and SCC laboratory re-accreditation status

Liz King     

Animal Health Laboratory, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON

AHL Newsletter 2019;23(4):4.

In May 2019, the Animal Health Laboratory was peer-audited for 4 days by four technical experts from the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (AAVLD). It was a successful audit and AHL met the AAVLD standard to maintain “Full Accreditation/All species” for 5 years. Full accreditation for 5 years is the highest level of accreditation awarded by this organization.

In October and November, we had our biennial Standards Council of Canada (SCC) audit. This audit is required to maintain our accreditation to the International OIE Standard ISO/IEC 17025:2017 “General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories”, as documented on our scope of accreditation (https://www.uoguelph.ca/ahl/about-us/accreditation). The SCC audit teams examine processes and records for each testing laboratory section, in addition to specimen reception, client services, facility, human resources, information technology, purchasing, quality assurance, our internal audit program, as well as verifying management commitment to our quality system. 

The strength of our mature quality system and knowledgeable staff was evidenced during all external audits by the many commendations we received from the AAVLD and SCC audit teams. Although it is a significant investment in time and resources for us to maintain our multiple accreditations, these external audits ensure that we maintain the highest degree of technical competence and promote continuous improvement of client services.

OAHN update - December 2019

Michael Deane and Kate Todd 

Animal Health Laboratory, University of Guelph, ON

AHL Newsletter 2019;23(4):5.

The Ontario Animal Health Network has been busy throughout the fall, releasing new podcasts, infographics, as well as fish and small flock poultry veterinary videos. We will be holding our annual workshop at the end of November, bringing together veterinarians, researchers, people from industry and provincial government agencies, and AHL pathologists to plan OAHN’s coming year. Many networks have recently completed some exciting research projects, with more on the way before the end of the year. Read on to find links and descriptions of what we’ve been working on. Be sure to check out OAHN.ca for new reports, lab data and resources.

CIRDC infographic and broodmare health podcast

Equine Infographic The OAHN Equine Network created a new podcast: Broodmare Health! How to manage and reduce the impact of EHV-1 abortion in your broodmare herd. In this episode, OAHN Equine Network co-lead Dr. Alison Moore is joined by Dr. Tracey Chenier, Associate Professor of Theriogenology at the Ontario Veterinary College, to discuss equine herpesvirus-1 abortion in mares and farm biosecurity measures.
Canine Infectious reespiratory disease complex icon The OAHN Companion Animal Network created a new infographic on canine infectious respiratory disease complex. The infographic covers diagnostics, initial treatment, and indications for prudent use of antimicrobials.

OAHN small flock poultry and fish veterinary video series

The OAHN Fish Network produced a series of videos for veterinarians and videos for those interested in the aquaculture industry on some common veterinary procedures and clinical conditions affecting aquaculture species. These videos can be found at:

https://oahn.ca/resources/fish-resources-for-veterinarians/ 

https://oahn.ca/resources/aquaculture-videos-for-industry/

OAHN has been working with Dr. Victoria Bowes, a diagnostic avian pathologist with a special interest in small flock medicine, to produce a series of videos to assist veterinarians treating small flock poultry. Recently released videos on the topic of enteric disease in small flock poultry can be found at: https://oahn.ca/small-flock/

 Completed Research Projects 

Each OAHN network has embarked on one or more research initiatives related to disease surveillance for their specific species. Find details below:

OAHN Wildlife research project: Characterizing the spatial patterns of chronic wasting disease susceptibility in white-tailed deer - https://oahn.ca/resources/characterizing-the-spatial-patterns-of-chronic-wasting-disease-susceptibility-in-white-tailed-deer/